Waiting waiting waiting

G'day all!

We are waiting on some big news.  Waiting is tedious.  I thought we might have some big news before I blogged again but alas, no.

Autumn leaves are falling

It involves LOTS of paperwork and no it isn't a baby.  You guys should know me better than that....  Anyway, we don't have an answer yet, so I'm not saying anything more about it.

This is such a cute little tree.

This week has been busy, between the paperwork, trying to get work done, and screwing up my taxes (Oz taxes - I put the wrong figure in the wrong place in the online tax system and couldn't figure out why my numbers were all wrong but of course since it said this I believed it because some days paperwork and computers flummox me so then I had to do a heap more paperwork to try to fix it up and the printer of course ran out of ink and I had to do a special trip to buy more ink, etc, etc....).

For some reason this pic isn't rotated.  Odd, eh?

Today/tomorrow I turn older.  It is getting scary, this birthday business.  DH was complaining at dinner last night that security at a bar he tried to go into wouldn't let him in because he didn't have US-government-issued ID.  They wouldn't accept his Oz driver's licence - how did they know that he wasn't just a visitor to the States? Apparently they would take a passport though... but anyway, it meant that he pulled out his licence and showed it around the table for all to admire - it has lots of security features including a clear spot in it.  Apparently they are all the rage at the moment.

Now there is a point to this story and I'll get to it soon....

?Boston Ivy?  Downtown.

So my age is a rather tender "secret" to me.  My friends back home know how old I am, well my cohort from uni does because we are all within a year or two in age with another bunch about 5-7 years younger.  Lots of us don't have kids, lots of us do, and the ones with kids hang out with each other and the ones without kids can do non-kid-friendly things.  Over here most people my age seem to have kids.  Not having kids is like not having a dog - it reduces your way of meeting other adults.  I meet people through knitting and through DH's work.  DH's colleagues tend to be younger, rather than older.  (Where do old software engineers go?  They can't all become managers, there aren't that many managers out there are there?)

Fall leaves are really falling.
Today's windstorm helped.

At DH's previous place, I met a bunch of really great people.  I liked quite a number of them but it is sorta scary when most of the people you know in a city are young enough that you could've given birth to them.

These poor socks needed a shave
and a haircut - now they are spiffy!

And of course the cycle repeats itself here, though thank heavens there are a few 30 year olds.  Anyway, here's me all tender about my age and after DH pulls out his licence and people comment on the big month and year printed on the back of it, what do I go and do?

Windstorm was windy - this sign
developed quite a lean.

I pull out mine.  And yes, it has a BIG month and year printed on the back of it too.

Take... the MONORAIL!

Doh!  So now anyone who looked at it knows.  And I feel old, especially after being asked how young I was in the pic - it was taken nearly 10 years ago by a boy who was wasted in the post office cos if he could make me look gorgeous with a happy snap, he could do marvels with a good camera with good lighting/etc.   I feel wrinkly and like an aged crone whilst DH's colleagues are again mostly all so young and unwrinkly and gorgeous.  (NB I got to see other peoples' licences but I didn't look at dates of birth or anything cos I sorta feel that is impolite but some of the pictures were amusing.)  It weirds me out a bit that I've become conscious of my appearance in some circumstances - I never used to worry when I was younger.  Chemo really knocked me around and seeing the ageing process happen in a matter of months rather than it creeping up on me over a number of years was probably the killer.

New sound sculpture by the Space Needle

So I am sorta conflicted about birthdays.  I am pleased to have made it to another birthday after all the cancer stuff and being fairly convinced I wouldn't see out the year, but OMG when did I get so old?  And in another few years I'll be having a very significant birthday - like how did this happen to me?

My punkin barfed and I was pleased.

I carved my first pumpkin on Monday night.  It was not as hard as I thought it would be.  I admit that I didn't scoop out a lot of the flesh but with the little saw blades it was quite easy.

He was very scary at night though.

I put my jack-o-lantern outside on the balcony and scared myself later that night when I caught sight of him leering in.  LOL

The phone likes to bend things in panoramas.
This building really is safe, not wonky...

I went downtown for various reasons over the last couple of weeks and took advantage of a sunny day.  We've had a lot of fog in the last while and it was getting tedious - two weeks of the stuff.  It is unusual in this clime to get that much fog for that long but I am pleased to say that we have returned to normal and have rain and wind instead, with the occasional spot of sunshine.

Scary fog at night

One afternoon the fog was amazing - it cleared up at about 2pm and it was marvellously sunny.  Then, just as an online work meeting was starting, I saw puffs of white moving up the shipping canal.  I thought it must've been smoke or steam, but it was fog rolling up from the Sound.  It continued to build up - I wish I'd gotten pics but it was an important meeting and I had to pay attention.

Above the fog on Phinney Ridge - maybe 250 feet up.

By the time the meeting finished, the fog had consolidated its hold and spread out around my area in a pea souper.  The sun was low in the sky and the fog gleamed silver.  Interestingly, half a mile up the road (up being the operative word!) the fog had lifted.  I drove through a dip and voila, fog!  I drove up Phinney Ridge and voila!  No fog!  The view was fantastic...

Befogged dandelion clock

The Fall colours have been wonderful.  I've been enjoying them a great deal, though I expect after today's wind and rain many of the trees will be bare.

DH often says how he likes my cooking.  I have no idea why cos I am a pretty average cook if I do say so myself.  I've had a number of disasters recently because I've been distracted by mountains of paperwork and finding rabbit holes to hide in and not paying attention to what's happening on the stove.... like:

This is not chunky custard nor mac and cheese.
This is what happens when you put quinoa
pasta in water that isn't yet boiling.  Oops.

In voice news, I went back and saw the laryngologist for a follow up appointment.  He stuck the endoscope into my nose (argh, yuck, I hateses it even with the anaesthetic spray that doesn't work so well on me but does leave a horridly sore throat for the next 36 hours) and made me say various things again, pulled the scope out and told me that my vocal cord is recovering.

I had sorta guessed as much because I am not as puffed when I walk and my voice is getting stronger, plus my vocal range is increasing.  And today I managed to read out most of a (shortish) paragraph without having to stop and gasp for air - at one point I couldn't string four words together without gasping.  It still is tedious though because it is really easy for me to overdo things without even noticing.  But it is good at the same time because now I can hurry for the bus - not run for it but walk fairly quickly.  I've discovered that mincing steps are my friend, even if I feel pretty silly.

We took a friend up highway 20 again.  So pretty!  Washington Pass/Liberty Bell was amazing, again, unsurprisingly.  The road is probably closed now - they are expecting 1-2 feet of snow this weekend and that is probably that for the season until March or April or May, depending on how much snow they get over winter/spring.

Ignore the bad processing, enjoy the view!

I think I have a new favourite place

Because this is gobsmacking.

Hopefully by the next time I blog, we'll have news, but then again we might not cos I'll find something else to ramble about instead.  I'm not sure what I'm going to take pics of next because we are running out of autumn leaves and grey skies and rain aren't much fun to take pics of or show off.  Hmm...  The winter photo conundrum.  Plus we lose daylight saving tomorrow and the sun will set before 5pm for the first time since January.  Argh!

anon!