Our Open House

Well, we had a very successful open house. We invited about 100 people - mostly co-workers, friends from church, and other random people that we've met along the way in our first year here in Seattle. All in all, we had 37 people drop by, including 7 kids. The weather didn't hold out - a nice Seattle drizzle kept the party inside, but there was room for everyone, and the house has never looked so good! (Marc and I cleaned from 8:00 am - 1:30 pm - including getting the grill ready for use!) It was a slow start, then everyone poured in around 3:30 - 4:00 pm. There was so much commotion that I didn't get much of a chance to snap a ton of pictures - thus, I'm just posting a few that we snapped - the top photo is of Diane and her baby Sarah (Diane is the choir director at church); the middle photo is of Marc with Christina - she went to Pius X with him in Lincoln and now lives out here; the bottom photo is of me with DT - the infamous VA hospital pathologist. Everyone had a grand 'ol time!!!

Dangerway Delivers

Well, after all those years of flying to see one another, Marc and I are now in the nesting phase of our relationship. One of the neat things about living in the city is grocery delivery. Safeway - we call it Dangerway - has a home delivery service at www.safeway.com Since I am a state employee, they will discount my delivery fee to $3. I can order a ton of stuff on line, then pick a delivery time. They deliver 7 days a week, and you pick a 2 hour delivery window. I highly recommend it. I've tried each week to pick a new meal to create based on tips from www.allrecipes.com Pictures is our pork chop with apple stuffing - a good fall treat. It was topped off with a good ol' gin and tonic. Probably the last for awhile, as the fall is approaching.

Today we're having a housewarming party - another post will be coming soon. We had the Dangerway drop off $200 worth of beer and brats - plus some other stuff. We'll be running to Trader Joe's soon to get some Charles Shaw. It should be a good time!!!

Our weekend guest... welcome Maya

This is Maya. She is an adorable 7 year old black lab that belongs to Carrie and David. Carrie is a Pathology resident peer of mine, and David is a civil engineer like Marc. Anyway, Carrie and David went away this weekend to a wedding, so I offered to take Maya for the weekend. She's been a joy to have around, and I'm looking forward to the walks this weekend. I figure that it will be good practice for Marc and I to see how we like having a dog around. More to come! Mike PS Mom and Katie - this is one of the thrift sale rugs that I bought from the neighbor.

College Football

Well, it's 9:30 in the morning, and I'm listening to 1150 AM - the Nebraska vs Ball State game is just getting underway. Anyone who knows me must find this hard to believe - I mean come on - I have never even been to a professional football game in my life. I did take in a couple of Gopher games in Minnesota - but Erin S. had to shush me in the stands when I asked her - "how many players are there on the field at a given time?" I guess that if I had spent more time in front of the TV versus in the kitchen with that breadmaker, I would have understood better.

Anyway, becoming a Cornhusker fan is just part of the domestic partnership agreement (Marc even made me sign a document that would guarantee that we could paint a big N in the living room). Last weekend we went to the Nebraska fan bar aka the "Lucky 7" in Kirkland, WA. Nebraska lost to USC, unfortunately. Today we have our radio tuned to see who the victors will be. GO BIG RED!!!

Hope all is well - more to come about our weekend adventures - we have a Terrapins or Blue Devils fan staying with us through Sunday - not sure what teams she roots for, but maybe we can make her a Cornhusker for the weekend!

Hangry

I still listen to one of my favorite San Diego public radio shows, "A Way With Words" on my iPod during my bus commute. (The show is also syndicated at a few affiliates around the country, but it's not on Seattle public radio as yet.) It's fun to listen to fellow obnoxious lexophiles discuss language and word usage (you might want to check out their podcast for yourself if you have time). Anyway, one of their summer podcasts featured a discussion of a neologism that definitely relates to me: HANGRY. A mash-up of "hungry" and "angry," it describes that irritable condition one gets due to hunger. Mike can attest that I am often in such a hypoglycemic huff. At least now I have a word to describe my mood, and a la Eve Ensler, I can shout: "My stomach is HANGRY!" [Marc]

Surfboards and Salmon

Yesterday, a couple of my collegues and I were out for a quick site visit on the Duwamish River in Tukwila (just south of Seattle). The salmon are running and we saw many fish jumping as they made their way up the river. We even saw one of the amateur anglers who was fishing under the overpass walk away with a huge specimen - it must have been about two feet long and probably 20+ lbs. I also learned something new. At least among Washington engineers and environmental types, "surfboard" is a colloquial term that refers to the Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB). Toto, I don't think we're in San Diego anymore! [Marc]

We've registered

One of the exciting things going on in our life, albeit anticlimactic upon its receipt, is that Marc and I are now registered domestic partners in the State of Washington. There was at one time a proposal to allow same-sex marriage in Washington State, although it was voted down, and domestic partnership registration was proposed as an alternative. Basically it involved filling out a form, having it notarized by two separate people, and then mailing it to Olympia with a check. We got certificates and wallet cards in the mail - essentially it will allow us hospital visitation rights, and other recognition by the law, etc., that we wouldn't have had before - a step in the right direction. I've scanned a copy of our certificate...

A wedding in the family...

Marc's sister got married in Chicago over Labor Day weekend. It was a lovely ceremony and the reception was perfect. We got a chance to see more of Chicago, attend a Cubs game, and spend time with Marc's family. I confess that out of all the 150 pictures we took, we don't have a picture of the bride and groom together. Here are just a few to capture our time - stained glass at Saint Raymond, Wrigley Field, and Marc and I with the bride. Enjoy!













[Marc Here] Ahem, we DO have a picture of the bride and groom (from the Cubs game Saturday) together! It's a bit on the casual side, but still worth a thousand words (e.g., "happy," "nervous," "let's get this wedding over with already?" :) )

A new blog for us...

Hi all - Marc and I decided to create a blog. Basically, since we've moved, it's been hard to keep in touch with all our friends and family and Marc and I continue with our adventures in the Northwest. Thus, we thought that we would take the time to post to a blog. The biggest news is that we bought a 1926 city of Seattle home. We spend most of our free time working on it. It's coming along bit by bit. Here are some photos of the place: