A couple of weeks ago, I turned 38.

Mary Kay Ash (Founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, and yes, I was a Mary Kay lady for a few years after college.  Weird.) apparently used to say, “A woman who will tell you her age will tell you anything.”

Yep, what do you want to know?

Anyway, I turned 38, and Jason surprised me with tickets to Emerald City Comicon for my birthday.  It was fabulous.  Truly, wonderfully geeky.  We saw panels by Chris Sarandon and Wil Wheaton and Felicia Day.  Fascinating.  If you’re not of the geeky variety (I forgive you), but you are a fan of movies or television, I still highly recommend visiting a con just for the panels.  Chris Sarandon’s stories about shooting The Princess Bride, the process by which he’s chosen to work on which films, etc. was enthralling.

Even more interesting was Wil and Felicia’s discussion about the future of video media, and the move away from television networks as the main/only source of well-produced series.  They gave us real food for thought and finally kicked us in the can enough to begin watching Geek & Sundry, Felicia Day’s YouTube channel.  Watching has been an expensive decision, as every other time we watch an episode of TableTop, we want that game and are unwilling to wait more than a day to try it out.  The local game shops are thrilled.

The highlight of our day at Comicon, though?  A mere fifteen seconds.  After two hours or so of standing in line (happily, I brought my knitting), we had fifteen seconds with one of my favorite actors of all time.  The person I would choose, above all others, to meet at one of these events.

Yes, I have a thing for handsome, bald men.

Sir Patrick Stewart, himself.  Somehow, I lost my nerve and did not tell him it was my birthday.  I very much wanted to hear him say, “Happy Birthday” with his lovely voice, but we were ushered in and out so quickly, I got flustered.  I did manage eye contact, and a, “Thank you very much, sir,” to which he politely replied, “Thank you for coming.”  So he has nice manners, which is not really a surprise but still good to know.

There’s a bit of controversy over the whole photo-with-a-celebrity thing.  Yes, we paid money for the experience.  We paid more to get his photo than we would any other person’s at the con.  I balked at first, but it was my birthday, and after seeing just how exhausted he was when we met him (It was the third day of the con, and he did look and sound tired.), I came to the conclusion that his time is worth the money.  He obviously appreciates his fans, too.  I’ve heard he’s quite the fanboy himself when he meets his idols (on an episode of Top Gear?), so it makes sense.

Next con?  I’m taking our photo to get it signed.  Do you think it will decrease in value if Jason and I autograph it, too?

Do you think they’ll adopt that as a tourism slogan?  I could go into the slogan business.  Except not really…I think my sense of humor is lost on many people.

My kids get me, though.  Apparently, I’m good for the male 9-13 crowd.  The latest is limericks.  But that’s another post.

Hawaii.  Wow.  The Big Island.  Jason and I were there a month ago, and yes, it was heavenly.  I promised pictures, and I [eventually!] deliver!

I’m going to begin with this one, because I believe it may be one of the Top Three Photos of Me Ever Taken, Ever.  I want to look like this every day, but I figure it has a lot to do with the sunglasses (which are moot this time of year in Seattle), the pose (difficult to maintain on an ongoing basis), and the state of total relaxation.  Yeah.

The beginning and end of my modeling career

The thing about the Big Island is that it’s apparently much, much younger than the other Hawaiian islands.  It’s so young that much of the place is barren lava.  It’s like a black desert.

On the eastern side, however, you have some lushness.

The day we went chasing waterfalls

And when they say lush, they mean lush!  So much green!

Banyan trees – weird.  Cool.  Really, really weird and cool.

Then you drive for twenty minutes and – yep – black desert.

On the Saddle Road between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa

Really, the place is a geeky geology lover’s dream come true.  In one day, we saw landscapes that reminded us of the Pacific Northwest, Reno, Florida, and a couple other places I can’t remember, because it was a month ago.  Eerie.

See the little tip of land touching the ocean?  That’s the southern-most point in the U.S.  It is not in Key West, FL.

The nice thing about the black desertiness of it all is that it’s not the Beautiful People’s Island. That isn’t to say there aren’t a lot of nice-looking people.  There are, locals and tourists alike.  They just aren’t all walking around in bikinis and board shorts all the time.  It’s rather nice.

Fair warning: black sand is SHARP.  Our feet did not thank us for this.

We took a day to drive around the southern part of the island to Volcanoes National Park.  What a surprise to arrive and experience Seattle weather (rainy and 40F) while wearing Hawaii vacation clothes.

Photograph taken solely to illustrate the weather

We laughed.  We ran through the cold rain.  What else could we do?  We’d driven three hours to get there.  And it’s Volcanoes National Park.  It’s not like we could just try again next week.

Chain of Craters Road has (wait for it) a bunch of craters along it.  Quelle suprise!

Photographs cannot do the size of this crater justice.  The craters were huge.  Ginormous.  Very, very LARGE.  However big you think that crater behind Jason is, triple it.  At least.

I’m in a lava tube!

I could post a hundred photos, but I’ll spare you.  We golfed (my first time!), we beach-walked, we off-roaded in our rental Jeep.

Not a bad place to have one’s first golfing experience

We took many, many arms-length photographs.

At Honaunau National Historical Park. Look it up.  It’s fascinating!

We even drove up the coast to explore a native village at the state park…

The gate is…closed??

…and if I’d paid attention to the calendar, I would have realized it was Presidents Day.

“Except Holidays”  Oops.

It obviously wasn’t a “lie on the beach in Hawaii” kind of vacation, but I don’t think we would have changed a thing.  Even with the driving and the doing, it was so freaking relaxing.  I’d go back next week if we could afford it, and if we could get the boys out of school without guilt.  They need to see this place.

Until next time, Aloha!

I believe I promised a tattoo picture!  I believe one Facebook friend even said, “No pictures, it didn’t happen.”

Let’s fix that, shall we?  It definitely happened.

Even our feet look like twins.

It took us awhile to agree on an appropriate representation of our relationship, but once we hit on it, we knew.

The music is the line, “There were never such devoted sisters.”  Remember that one?  White Christmas?  Rosemary Clooney and [dubbed] Vera Ellen?  Yep.  It’s our song.  Okay, one of our songs.

The initials were Heather’s idea – she has the ‘A’ I sign in my name, and I have her handwritten ‘H’.

I can’t wait for flip-flop season.  Oh, wait, that’s right!  I get to show it off in Hawaii later this month.  (If it sounds like I’m bragging…you’re quite astute.  I’m sorry.  Mostly.)

Tattoo counts: Heather – 3, Aimee – 2.  For now.  You’ve heard tattooing is addictive?  You’ve heard correctly…

Happy New Year!

It’s still January, I can legitimately say that.  I think.

Lessons I have learned this month:

There are people who come into your life with very, very important information.  You need to listen to them.  Sometimes, that is the only reason you cross their path.  Then?  You need to let them go, with huge thanks and a firm good-bye.  If you cannot do this on your own, employ family and friends to help.

Petting dogs can spread poison ivy and poison oak.  (Okay, I already knew this one from experience, but several years’ distance can cause forgetfulness.)

Prednisone makes me HUNGRY.  When I am HUNGRY, I will bake.  Spice cake, anyone?  (Kidding – I’m not really in the mood to share.)

Tubing. Is. Fun.

Nicky will probably need braces, too. (SIGH…)

I can make yarn!

Watching a fictional character die of a traumatic episode you have experienced is, unsurprisingly, traumatic.

When you are spacey enough to leave your anniversary band in the dressing room of Sears’ Lands End department, there just might be enough honest people in the world that when you call in a panic, they will have it waiting for you to pick up.  People are inherently good.

There is an awful lot of cool stuff to do in Hawaii, and trying some of it is going to be a nice change from foggy, rainy February in Seattle.

Oh, my poor, dear, neglected bloggy friends.  It’s become a thing this year, my not blogging.  Not at all how I want it.

However, the longer I don’t blog, the harder it is to come back and share, because how could I possibly update you all on everything?  Well, like this I guess.  Bullet-point style.  (I’ll try my best not to be overly verbose, but come on.  We all know me better than that.)

*Last night, I finished the annual family calendar.  I began this tradition for 2010, when we had moved across country, away from all the family, as a way to have our (mostly the kids’) smiling faces in the grandparents’ homes.  I’ve continued it, because we all love it.  I send a copy to my sister, to Jason’s parents, and to my parents, and we have one on our kitchen wall.  Jason even hangs one in his office at work, where it apparently gets all sorts of compliments.  It’s fun.  The cover always looks something like this.

There you go, 2013 in a nutshell.

*In early November, I took a weekend to visit my sister in L.A.  We don’t get nearly enough time together, much less alone time together.  It was a blast, even if she was way sick.

Artsy. The photo that launched a thousand, “Are you twins?” Facebook comments.  Short answer — no, we’re not.

We hung out at her Georgia Bar (The bar where all the UGA alums watch the UGA games.  I even cheered for the Dawgs – this is how much I love my sister.), watched movies, and got tattoos.  Yes, matching sister tattoos!!  SO awesome.  Neither of us were tattoo virgins, but these ones were a bit more painful.  Top of the foot = ouch.

I can’t believe it, but I don’t have a good photo of our finished tattoos.  I know we took one, but it’s neither on my phone nor on my camera’s SD card.  I’ll see if we can get another one when she’s here for Christmas next week.

I’m such a tease.

*Oh, I also got to meet Gretchen and Elizabeth while I was down Cali Way!

Grainy cell phone pic!  AWESOME ladies.

Gretchen took me on a whirlwind tour of Hollywood.  Sort of an insiders thing.  (Not really, but it’s fun to say.)  We drove up to the Hollywood Sign (as close as one can get), past large homes, to the Griffith Observatory, and met Elizabeth for lunch at a (and I am quoting here) “trendy L.A. lunch spot.”  Total Hollywood tourist treatment, and I loved every moment of it, but mostly because we all like to TALK.  It was fabulous.  Chatty, chatty, chatty.  I want them both to come to Seattle for a weekend.  We’ll end up with sore throats from talking ceaselessly, and it will be wonderful.

*In September, I rowed in the Race For the Cure.  I believe I talked about it.  Well, get this – we medaled!  Sure, we probably had an edge, as the only boat in the novice race containing people who had been rowing a month too long to be considered novices, but the rules confused us.  Anyway, we worked hard, we dressed cute, and we worked very, very hard.  (It’s worth mentioning twice.)

See? Totally cute.  And a medal!

*I also rowed at Tail of the Lake in October, this time in the appropriate category.  Therefore, I did not come home with a medal.  It will be quite a long time before I earn another one, as I am up against some incredibly strong, talented, women.  I am 100% okay with that.  I just want to row and race.

*Nicky made Junior All-State Band!  The ONLY kid from his middle school to do so, and he’s only a 7th grader.  Can you say Proud Parents?  Kiddo deserves it.  The best part?  He was totally unimpressed.  Forgot to tell us about making it for four days.  FOUR. Days.  He goes in February.

*Jason’s parents are coming for Christmas!  They’ll be here in three days.  I am so excited to see them, and my house is completely unprepared.  I think I’ve passed stressing about it.  It will get done.  Or partially, anyway.  Either way, we get to spend a week with them.

*Jason and I saw Wicked at the Paramount Theater in Seattle for his birthday.  It was fabulous.  (No surprise!)  It’s been his favorite musical for years, but we had never seen it.  (He has the soundtrack memorized.)  In other musical news, LES MIS IS IN THEATERS NEXT WEEK!  I am slightly, just a tad, looking forward to it.

*Life has been happening.  Piano lessons.  Trumpet lessons.  Kalen took a few drum lessons.  Rowing, working out, eating too much.  Laundry, dishes.  Church choir (we sang Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols yesterday – whoa.).  LIFE.  It’s busy; it’s good.

Please forgive the self-focused, I-ness of this post.  I’m still processing, and I have to get it out.  I had no words for my grief all day, but it poured out when I sat down here…

The suggestion to “hold your kids a little closer tonight” has never been one that really hits home with me.  I’ve heard it dozens of times.  When a child is diagnosed with – or lost to – cancer.  When there’s an accident.  A violent act.  I’ve always thought, “Yes, I appreciate my healthy kiddos,” and I’ve kissed them and hugged them and gone on my way.  I’ve worked hard, especially as they’ve gotten older and I’ve begun to recognize how fast this childhood business goes from a parent’s point of view, to remember [almost] every day how lucky we are, so the suggestion of a little bit of “extra” love never much affected me.

Twelve-and-a-half years I’ve been doing this mothering thing, and today it hit home.

When the news came out of Connecticut this morning, the internal keening began.  My soul wailed.  My stomach turned inside out.  My chest hurt.  And I had to physically press my legs into the ground in front of the sofa to stop myself from jumping up to race to the elementary school and envelop the office staff, principal, Kalen’s lovely teacher, and all the sweet nine-and-ten-year-old babies in his class in hugs and tears.

I spent the day doing – visiting the chiropractor, grocery shopping – in between sobs and gasps.  I’m sorry to say I’d grown painfully accustomed to shootings in our country.  In temples, malls, even schools.  I remember the victims, I question what could have been done to make the gunmen feel less unloved, less hopeless…and I move on.

I suppose we’ll all move on this time, too, but it certainly doesn’t feel like it now.  It’s the gut-wrenching, nauseating, heart-crushing kind of emotional pain that stops a person in her tracks.

Right now, I’m waiting for Jason to arrive home from work, and after dinner, we’ll sit down and talk about this with the boys.  For now, they’re blissfully ignorant, laughing and scheming to beat a level on Lego Lord of the Rings.  I don’t want to take that away from them, but if I don’t, someone else – the media, a classmate, an adult having a conversation near them in public – will, and that’s not okay.

So, yes, hug your babies tonight, and say a little prayer of comfort for those who cannot, and for the families of the teachers and staff in that lovely little Connecticut town, too.  And for yourself, too.

I could have said it’s the most wonderful time of the year, but do we really need a Halloween versus Christmas battle on my blog?  I think not.

Still.  Halloween!  FUN!!

We’ve been dressing up.  A lot.  So much, in fact, that I may just plop my witch’s hat on my head tonight and call it good.

He is NOT the grim reaper. He is OBVIOUSLY a demon executioner. Duh.

Last Friday night, the Very Large Company For Which Jason Works hosted its annual trick or treat time for the kids.  Due to previously-mentioned releases, and related heightened security, not as many buildings were decorated or open for the kiddos, but they had fun going around where they could and collecting sugar.

Meow. Which is scarier – cat with claws or ninja?

We saw some great costumes.  My personal favorite was the little girl in an inflatable Violet Beauregard As a Blueberry costume.  Seriously!

Before the smoky eyes & other assorted make-up. Sadly, this is the best photo of me from that night.  Scary.

Saturday evening, we attended a Halloween party, the boys in their same costumes, and Jason and I as witch and wizard.  We got to know people – very nice people.  It was fun.  Also? More great costumes.

Blurry, but notable, pile of costumes that are so large on me I can’t wear them – WOOT!

Sunday morning, costumes were encouraged at church, for obvious reasons.  (Well, obvious if  you know the origins of costume-wearing at Halloween, and if you know Unitarian Universalist churches.  So, yeah.  Totally obvious.)  I went back to the cat ears and make-up.

I went through a lot of eyeliner last weekend.

Random adorable pumpkin-choosing photo!

And, tonight?  Oh, right.  Tonight is the actual Halloween.  We are, per usual, making chili (it is simmering on the stove) and driving to some friends’ house to share in their trick-or-treating.  (Hauling said pot o’ chili with us.)  We invited ourselves, having found last year to be a near dud for the sport in our neighborhood.  We saw no one else out trick-or-treating.  Sad!

Tomorrow?  All Saints Day, I suppose.  I prefer to call it All Sisters Day, as I’ll be hopping a flight to So Cal to see my sister!  (And, while she’s working, meet up with a blogger or two, too.)

Be safe tonight, and if you’re in the Sandy-affected areas, I hope you find a fun way to celebrate amid the stress.

Happy Halloween!

Let’s pick up where we left off, shall we?

Last month, Jason left home early on a Thursday morning.  He had a 6am flight to join his uncles and cousins in St. Louis for a golf weekend.  It was a well-deserved break and a chance to catch his breath before the big push on various releases at work.  (One of which I am using to create this post right now.  Hello, Surface!)

While he played all that weekend, I decided to work.  I’ve always wished someone would pull a “While You Were Out” on me, so I did the next best thing: I pulled one on my husband, and now we have a lovely master bathroom.

I couldn’t achieve everything I’d want to, had it been under ideal circumstances (i.e., unlimited budget) — the old linoleum and ugly countertop are still there, I don’t have the electrical expertise to install an exhaust fan, and I couldn’t quite find a way to enlarge the room and install a bathtub.  Still, for the first time since buying the house, we walk into that bathroom and smile at what we see.  I don’t mind not being able to soak in the evening quite so much, now there are pretty curtains greeting me as I step out of the shower.

So, over the course of four days, I shopped, washed walls, removed caulk, recaulked, painted, primed, painted more, shopped more, made the aforementioned curtains, and (get this) changed out the light switch.  By myself.  My first foray into the electrical trade, and it was a great success.  (Yes, before you ask, I did turn the electricity off at the breaker.  Why does everyone who hears about this feel the need to ask such a silly question?)

Somehow, I even managed to be a semi-decent parent during all the hubbub, too.  If semi-decent includes a trip for frozen yogurt, which, I believe, in my kids’ eyes, it certainly does.  Perhaps even decent.  Or spectacular.

The wall color was chosen to coordinate with the paint color we’ve chosen for the master bedroom, and the cabinet color to coordinate with the curtains and wall color.  The very first things I bought were the cobalt cabinet knobs – Jason’s favorite color.  I’ve finally decided to go with instinct and do blue and green throughout the whole house. Why fight favorite colors?  Blue for Jason, green for me.

While the light switch was my proudest achievement, the artwork in the room is a particular point of pride, too.

It’s our song.

Jason loves it and was completely surprised.  And, with that, finally, nineteen months after moving in, we can call one room finished.

(Well, finished-ish.  I still want that bathtub someday.)

[I'll admit, I've thought about doing this before, but I never 'got around to it.'

*Blogging by hand.* I finally saw it done today at Geek Mom.  Cool.  And now you can see my handwriting.  (Any graphologists out there?)

When I was in elementary school, the only 'C' I ever got was in handwriting.  It drove me nuts, bu there was seemingly nothing I could do about it.  I suspect now that it's related to the Sensory Processing Disorder.

Happily I type at well over 80wpm, so my handwriting isn't as important as it used to be.

People whose handwriting I envy:

*My sister
*My bestest friend

Both Heathers have lovely penmanship.

All of my high school & college notes were filled with doodles.  I think and receive/process info best when my hands are occupied...writing, doodling, knitting.

So, do you write by hand anymore?  I kind of miss it...especially old-fashioned letters.  If you could write a letter to anyone, who would it be?

<3,
Aimee] 

Hi guys.

I could say I’ve been busy, and I have.  A bit.  But more?  I’ve been uninspired.  Not feeling it.

I’m a bit jealous of the creative writing class Mom is taking, and it occurred to me today, maybe I should look for one to take, too?  I love writing.  I want to improve my writing.  A class would therefore make sense, no?  So now I think I will look around.

I do have a golf lesson scheduled for tomorrow.  Random, right?  I’m excited.  Jason came back from a golf weekend with his uncles and some cousins last week and declared that we were finally going to start golfing.  I could only laugh, as I’ve been suggesting it for years.  The difference between the two of us, however, is that I have a lesson scheduled, and he doesn’t.  Okay, that’s only part of the difference.  The other part is that he is naturally good at stuff like this (i.e., new physical skills), and I feel unprepared and unskilled and embarrassed until I am shown the “proper form and technique.”  An impostor among professionals, even.  I’ll be fine after a few lessons.  (Not good at the game…just not embarrassed on the course.)

Um, insert witty segue here.

After rowing today, a teammate complimented me on my nails and asked how I keep them looking so pretty.  Hers, she shared, are horrible.  So, I shared, are mine, which is why I use this as a base coat.  The manicures seem to last a day or so longer when I do.  Bonus!  I go through phases a couple of times each year where I keep them painted for a few weeks, and they look wonderful, but it doesn’t last.  I wonder how long I can make this bout last?  it’s been two-and-a-half weeks.

 Kalen chose this week’s color. The boys like Bright and Sparkly Things.

I have lots about which to tell you.  I have raced in two regattas since last we chatted, and I’ve completed a nice little makeover on one room in the house.  (Think small.)  There has also been knitting and reading and such.  Somehow, I’ve managed to find myself on the PTSA board again.  There is in-public singing for the first time since college.

And, of course, laundry.  When isn’t there laundry?