October Sunday

First off, I can't believe it's already mid-October.

The Beantown/Berkeley match this morning was awesome. Great women's rugby. It definitely made me want to play again, even if egos are a touch much at that level of play. It would be great to be able to become a firefighter within the year so I might be able to play rugby again in a couple years.

After the match we went to the Marymoor dog park. Always good times. It was a beautiful day and a nice 30 minute walk with the dogs, amongst their own kind.

I got in a small fender bender while inspecting my bare feet and waiting for a crosswalk to clear. It wasn't my fault. I was stopped and got crunched into from a car behind me. It was Molly's car so I took the gal's name and number but there didn't appear to be any meaningful damage. I hate when people expect their cars to stay pristine and would repair a tiny scratch on the bumper at the expense of the other person's insurance premiums. I think frivolous lawsuits and going after people's insurance is lame. So, it was nice to have a positive interaction at an insignificant auto accident (not even, really). I liked that.

And I got a Top Pot donut and cup of coffee right afterwards. That's where I was heading anyways. Delicious.

I was pretty productive today. The house has made me feel insane all week so today was the day it had to end. I've slept the last two nights on the couch because the bedroom is such a pig sty it makes me feel crazy to be in there. I know that sounds like a nutso reaction but I don't like feeling grit in the bed and when our house even gets a little dirty it's easy for some of that animal dirt to make it into the bed. Add a few loads of unfolded laundry, some backpacks, and a scattering of papers, plus a nasty dog bed or two, and you've got a recipe for insomnia and anxiety. So, the couch it was. But, today I washed the laundry, cleaned the kitchen, cleaned the bathroom, made the guest bed from Landyn's sleepover, took out the trash, cleaned the living room, consoloidated the house clutter in the guest room to deal with later, and started inspecting and cleaning the gutters. That will be a project because they are pretty tore up and I found one with a totally clogged downspout that had bug eggs in it. I couldn't finish because I had to go to a work meeting at 5:30.

We still have a lot of work to do to winterize the house: cleaning and repairing gutters, installing a wood stove, weatherstripping, and closing the attic off. Those are all time-consuming and/or expensive projects so it'll be baby steps. But, we'll see how far we can go with it all. With my dad out here, him and Molly got a lot done on the foundation for the patio. The pavers are sitting in the driveway but they probably won't go in for another week or two. Then we still need to bump the fence up about 15' and build stairs off the back of the porch.

Today I drank a lot of coffee and ate a bagel, an egg, pizza, a donut, and a lot of ice cream. Awesome. I think a big pitfall in this country is our fear of food. We have so many nutrition programs and detailed ways to eat food. But, there is not as much emphasis on enjoying food or preparing food or understanding where it comes from. I've loved cooking since I was a kid and it's an important part of my life. The most busy I get, the less time I spend in the kitchen, and the grumpier I get. For my mom's birthday I decided I was going to make her a cookbook of the recipes she made for us when we were growing up. I'd like to learn how to cook more with the stuff that's plentiful in this area. We have a ton of great food in the northwest (salmon, huckleberries, Dungeness crab, apples, pears, wild mushrooms, sweet Walla Walla onions, blackberries) and I look forward to eating it. But, before I get into a big cooking spree I think we need to clean out our pantry, fridge and freezer. Last time we did this we just ate what was in the house for a week. I think we ended up with scurvy but we sure did clear up space for more food. Time for that same thing, but with the okay to get fresh fruits and veggies this time.