Puppy (and Katty) Love!

This is the love-fest that happens when Kat comes home for the weekend:

And speaking of love-fests, the kids have decided that sudden empty-nesting has caused me to become a...

CAT LADY!

How to Decorate Your Bedroom With a New Color Scheme Each Week

As I've mentioned quite a few times, Tom and I sleep under fabulously cozy and fluffy individual down-filled duvets that Laura's family gave us when we visited her in Germany last year.

I bought three sets of duvet covers while still in Germany, but have been unable to find them in America since returning. Not even Ikea will ship their German bedding to Ikea stores in America! How ridiculous is that?

After looking high and low for German-sized duvet covers in America (and online anywhere, with an option to ship to the States), I came up empty-handed. I finally turned to my dear friend Thomas, to whom I have shipped quite a few pairs of Levis over the years, asking him to send me some German bedding from Ikea near Nurnberg. He was kind enough to do that, so now we have five different looks for our bedroom:

White-on-white-on-white (with a touch of fluffy gray):

A yummy, soft blue and white dotted flannel. This is no ordinary flannel -- it's thinner and softer than American flannel, and has almost a slight "furry" quality to it. Delish in the winter!

This is my favorite when I'm feeling bold and colorful:

And when I'm feeling staid, proper, and mature, I put these on the bed:

And these are Tom's favorites because he likes the stark and simple look of black & white:

Which set is your favorite?

How often do you change the entire look of your bed -- and thereby the whole mood of your bedroom? I have a feeling this whole German bedding thing is about to catch on, not only because they're so versatile and easy (no more blanket-hogging!), but because they're an inexpensive and attractive way to give your bedroom a whole new look every time you change your sheets!

California's Proposition 8: I Should Have Spoken Up!

A few weeks before the recent election, fire broke out in the hills north of LA.  A friend of mine from high school, who is now a Hollywood screen writer and producer, lives there and as news of the fires covered the airwaves, I IMd Matt to make sure that he and his (large Mormon) family were OK and that their house was spared.  He assured me that everyone was OK and mentioned that he'd been pretty busy with a new project lately, offering that he was producing commercials for California's "Yes on Proposition 8" campaign.

Needless to say, our warm and friendly IM became instantly strained and cool. Matt and I have had a few conversations about religion and politics over the years and we are each well aware of our vast differences, but we've always shown each other respect and restraint.  This time, though, I struggled to remain civil because I adamantly oppose Proposition 8, which strives to take civil rights away from gay couples in California by changing the state's constitution, stripping them if their right to marry.

Our IM lasted hardly 30 seconds after Matt told me what he'd been doing during the weeks before the election.  I told him that I disagreed with him vehemently.  He told me he was aware of how I felt and that he disagreed with me vehemently.  And then we cordially wished each other well and clicked out of our IM.

Yes, part of me wishes that I had engaged him in a discussion, but I know that my chances of changing his mind about gay marriage being wrong were as likely as him changing my mind that  marriage is a right of all human beings -- both gay and straight.

Yes, I wanted to ask him how gay marriage threatens his marriage and his family, but I didn't.

And now, a week after Proposition 8 passed in California -- some say at the last minute due to an expensive media blitz paid for by religious groups, especially Mormons -- I wish I would have.

I feel guilty that I didn't speak up.  Yes, chances are that it would have put an irreversible strain on Matt's and my friendship, and chances are it wouldn't have changes his thinking, but I wish I had said something. 

How many other people could have made a difference but chose not to speak up?  When something like this happens, could it be that staying silent because we don't want to infringe on others' beliefs is actually the wrong thing to do?

Matt, we really should talk.

This Is Just About the Cutest Thing I've Ever Seen!

Don't tell anyone, but at one point yesterday afternoon, three of us at work had this running -- and the rest of the staff was gathered around one monitor or another! It's addictive and, in my opinion, better than even the best Bond movie!

Once Upon a Time, Not So Very Long Ago...

... as in, maybe eight hours ago, my co-workers and I took a break and walked to the local Starbuck's to get coffee. On our way, we came upon this:

So I looked high and low for this:

...but alas, he was nowhere to be found.

So I went back to the office and worked busily ever after.

The end.

Winter Comes To My Office

Now That Wasn't So Bad, Was It?

Tom's sound asleep on the couch with a full belly after 24 hours of a clear liquid diet (otherwise known to a grown man as starvation), the residual effects of a variety of drugs (including Xanax for anxiety) in his system, and the knowledge that the entire ordeal is now behind him.

So to speak.

I've been a mean, stubborn, doting, loving wife who, in spite of years of my husband's protests and whining, insisted that he get a colonoscopy.  Today was the day.

Actually, yesterday was THE day.  Beginning at midnight on Sunday night, Tom was allowed only clear liquid.  Last night that clear liquid was (to quote Dave Barry) "about 32 gallons of something called MoviPrep, a "nuclear laxative" that tastes like "a mixture of goat spit and urinal cleanser, with just a hint of lemon."

Tom drank this concoction without complaint.  Then I conveniently went shopping for stuff I didn't need and can't afford, just so he could, well... deplete himself in peace.

Throughout the evening, Tom complained about wanting seven hamburgers (with fries), but about little else. At 3:30 AM the alarm rang and he was at it again, drinking the last 17 gallons of the MoviPrep and probably dozing on the toilet -- or not. 

Later this morning, Tom took the one Xanax pill that was prescribed for him when he told the doctor about his extreme trepidation about invasive procedures -- and then he was out for another hour of sleep.

He woke up at 7:30, groggy but not particularly anxious (thanks, Xanax!), and we were off.  At the doctor's office, Tom was wisked back almost before I could tell him to have fun (mean wife that I am) and give him a kiss.  The receptionist gave me the key to the office's wireless access and I buried myself in work for the next two hours while Tom was buried in... well, was burrowed into.

My name was called and I greeted Tom at the patients' "after" door.  He looked calm, cool, and collected and was sharing banter with a friendly nurse about the big meal he was about to eat.

So it was behind him!  All the worry, all that preparation, and now the colonoscopy is finally behind him!  And it really wasn't bad!  Even Tom will tell you that -- I promise.

So all you men out there who have fretted and avoided, it's time.  It's time for your routine (ha!) colonoscopy.  Carol AND Tom say so.

Craig, this means YOU!  :-)

Learning Hindi When I Should Be Working

As you know, part of my job consists of connecting with my counterparts and co-workers in Mumbai, India on a nightly basis between Sunday evening and Thursday evening.  As much as I adore my friends there, it's not always easy diving right into work after a long, leisurely weekend.

So sometimes we have a slow start getting into the nitty-gritty of the work at-hand, and we warm up by chatting about other things -- family, holidays, cultural differences, whatever seems to be on our minds.

This evening, Ravi's IM suddenly had a whole new look to it, as he'd abandoned letters and presented me with some shapes and scribbles that made no sense to me.

First came one scribble, and then a few more followed.

"It looks like bugs building a home underground!" I declared.

But nope -- these were no bug trails.  Ravi was showing me how to write the names of all our family members in Hindi!

Isn't it pretty?  Hindi not only looks pretty on paper; it sounds pretty, too! 

One Sunday evening last month, Ravi presented me with this beautiful piece of art.  "Flip the paper over" in your mind. See?!  Is that sooo cool?

I'm trying to convince my boss that I need to go to India in January because another dear co-worker is getting married then, and I'd absolutely LOVE to attend her beautiful Indian wedding ceremony.  I'm not sure how far my current knowledge will get me, but just give me a few more Sunday evening Hindi lessons and I'll be ready to go!

Thanks Ravi!

19 Years Ago Today, Something Extraordinary Happened!

Happy Birthday, Aleks and Kat!

(The Berlin Wall also came down that day.)

Apologies to Hollister Stores

Not one to bitch and hide, I posted a link to my previous post to the Hollister website.  I received this e-mail within hours:

Hey Carol,

Thanks for emailing us at Hollister and taking the time to inform us about the incident in our store involving our mannequins. Here at Hollister, we would not handle our character idly. Every Hollister store has specific Visual Merchandise staged appropriately and Hollister would not condone mannequins to be displayed in this fashion. Unfortunately, our mannequins had been tampered with. We'll forward your comments, along with the link to your blog, to the relevant business teams for further investigation. We'll be in touch with our store staff regarding the guarding of our mannequins and property from further ill repute.

Thanks again for letting us know.

Aaronah

Customer Service

Hollister

And this morning I received this photo of the mannequins dressed correctly (though obviously at a different store) from an "ejgcasey" (no idea who that is):

So y'all were right -- it looks like it was a prank!  I still have no idea how it was so meticulously carried out in a crowded mall on a Saturday afternoon, but I do now believe that it wasn't condoned by the store, and for my accusatory tone in my previous post, I do owe them an apology.

I still have an issue with charging $42 for a thin t-shirt with the name of our previous hometown (Oceanside, CA) plastered across the front of it, but that's for another post.  Or not.

NaBloPoMo

...stands for National Blog Posting Month. Last November I joined it almost by accident, since back then I was writing a lot and posting actual substance. But somehow I've kept this blog up, even if not very well. Employment has that effect, it seems.

So I'm in. Hell, if nothing else maybe it'll inspire a few thoughtfully written posts of substance. I miss thise days!

This is Going Entirely Too Far, Hollister Stores!

Last weekend, while at the Bellevue Square mall, I walked past Hollister, a store where my kids used to spend a lot of time and a lot of money. 

I saw this:

You know, I'm as socially liberal as they come, but this is just over the top! 

Anatomically correct dolls?  No problem!   

Sex education in middle schools?  Definitely. 

And go ahead and put a bowl of condoms in the main office of high schools -- fine by me. 

But this?  Well, this is just offensive!

My first thought was that this was a prank, but it was just too stylized to be a prank.  The woman's sweater wasn't just yanked off her body; it seemed to be carefully lifted over her head and placed seductively across her torso.

The mannequins'  around-the-ankles jeans definitely weren't the result of a quick and careless fly-by prankster.  Instead, I swear that they were carefully draped there by a trained fashion stylist. 

And those leggings around the knees?  Deliberate, beyond a doubt.

Which prompts me to ask, WHY?!  Is this what marketing to t'weens and teens (Hollister's target demographics) has come to?  How insulting!  How inappropriate!  How... desperate.  

Hollister, it takes a lot to shock me.  Abercrombie did it when they sold clothes to teens by plastering photos of naked teens on their walls.  Victoria's Secret did it when they marketed their sexiest  underwear with cute plush poodles that appealed to 8-year-old girls.  And now you've done it with this -- well, below the belt -- display in front of your Bellevue Washington store.

If my kids still had any interest in your clothes, we'd boycott your store.  But they don't, so I'm calling on other parents with t'ween and teen kids to boycott.

Am I being too picky here?  Am I being a prude?  Or is this as shockingly stupid and insulting to you as it is to me?

The View From My Office Window - Almost Winter Edition

Remember this, from October 23rd?

Barely two weeks later, and now my view looks like this:

Pretty soon I'll be posting a photo will snow on those bare branches!

I am so INCREDIBLY Proud of America! (And it feels SO GOOD to say that!)

This is what we did at 8:01 this evening:



We DID it! I can't stop smiling... and the tears of happiness and pride are so close! I am so happy for my kids and their entire generation, for what they helped accomplished. I'm so happy for anyone and everyone who ever felt that this day would never come, and who believed that race would inhibit them from achieving their dreams.

America, you ROCK tonight! World, aren't you proud of us?

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

Thought-Provoking Bumper Stickers for Sarah Palin and Friends

Psssst! Pass It On: When* Obama Wins, Set Off Fireworks (all over the world)!

(A quick post before I head out to help at the Bellevue, Washington Obama headquarters...)

I've been so occupied by this election, so consumed with hope (and yes - fear of election day tampering), that I've been literally dreaming about an Obama presidency, and one of the images that has been permeating my thoughts lately is that of fireworks emanating from our Big Blue Marble, our beloved Earth... celebratory fireworks that usher in Obama's spirit of hope and change, tolerance and bipartisanship, forward-thinking policies and intelligent leadership.

It's a dream and an image that almost brings tears to my eyes!

So I started thinking, 'Hey, why NOT?' Can you imagine the view from space? Fireworks coming from every nation, from every culture, from every country around the world, ushering in real global change, real international unity?

So here's my idea: When* CNN announces Obama/Biden as the winner of the 2008 presidential election, no matter when that is, everyone set off fireworks! To my friends in India: set off fireworks! To my friends in Germany: set off fireworks! To my friends in Australia and Russia and Japan and Zimbabwe, set off fireworks! To everyone, everywhere who believes that an Obama presidency would be the beginning of a positive new era the world over, set off fireworks!

And to any astronaut, from any country, who happens to be circling our Big Blue Marble at the time, snap a photo and post it!

And hey, pssssst - PASS THIS ONE ON!

*I say "when" because I'm a believer in positive thinking and hope.

A Golden Retriever, a Ball, and Love

This is Shasta.  Doesn't she look adoring?  Can you see the love, affection and loyalty in her eyes?  Doesn't that look make you feel positively loved and protected?

I mean, really -- she's practically laughing, isn't she?  Do you not feel absolutely revered, just gazing into her loving eyes?

Then you are a sucka!  Because Shasta loves ONE THING more than anything else in life.  In fact, for Shasta, life is pretty much all about one thing...

Her BALL!

Shasta loves her ball.  Shasta adores her ball.  Shasta lives for her ball.

Shasta will share her ball, but only for one reason -- to have it thrown...

  ...so she can chase it...

...and bring it back...

...so you'll throw it again. 

And again.

So you THINK it's love.  It LOOKS like love.  It FEELS like love. 

And sure, she loves you.  Because Golden Retrievers' default setting is love.

But don't kid yourself -- it's really all about the ball!

Even the cats know that!

Next Time You Visit the Microsoft Campus...

...be sure to visit one of their many commissaries. This meal, a made-to-order omelet (red and green peppers, mushrooms, onions, spinach and cheese, and some delicious, fresh toppings) and the best creamy scalloped potatoes I've ever had (sorry Mom!), comprised my rainy day lunch at the building 117 commissary today. I could have also chosen a variety of grilled to order steaks and burgers, any of a combination of Indian or Mexican or Italian dishes, a salad bar, a pasta bar... and of course endless free beverages.

Sure, Microsoft has a few products to offer. Yeah, they run a fairly significant business headed by a few influential movers and shakers. But that's not all they have to offer, folks -- and all I can say is "Mmmmmm-mmmmmmm!"

Where I've Been

A Full Nest for the Weekend!

Peter called us on Thursday night to tell us that he'd be coming home from Washington State University for the weekend.* Aleks, Kat, and Elisabeth live nearby in Seattle, so they come home often -- certainly much more often than Peter, who lives five hours away.

Of course, when all kids are home, they spend time catching up on each others' lives and "just chillin'. Yeah, I admit it -- it totally warms my heart!

Making our favorite German family dinner of sauerbraten, rotkraut and kaese speaetzle was a spur-of-the-moment idea, but turned out to be well worth it -- even after a full afternoon of cooking!

Aleks chopped onions (for about 10 seconds).

Elisabeth and Tom carefully made the spaetzle, batch after batch.

This is my Mom's Bavarian rotkraut...

...and sauerbraten made from memory.

It didn't taste right -- until we realized that we'd forgotten the molasses!

Finally -- dinner time! It's good to be home! (At least that's what I tell myself they were thinking!)

Here's the finished meal -- yum!

Dig in!

Here's Tom, Peter, Elisabeth and Kat, goofing off after dinner:

And me as a "house divided" mom -- meaning we have kids attending both big Washington State universities, University of Washington and Washington State University. Gotta always be fair, ya know!

For today, this house is lively and full of laughter. Tomorrow night, after all four kids head back to their apartments and their schools, things will be a little too quiet again. But every week Tom and I get a little more used to having an empty nest, and it turns out to be just fine... as long as they all come home on a regular basis, like they did this weekend!

(*Peter's first two months of college have been filled with the normal changes of going off to college, but in addition he's been dealing with the breakup of his four-year relationship with Danelle, which has especially been tough on Peter since they'd just moved into an apartment together in August. In the past few weeks, we've rented him his own place, furnished it, and helped him move in and move forward on his own. Since Danelle has essentially been part of our family for the past four years, this has been tough on all of us.)

If You're Still Undecided You Live Under a ROCK!

According to the latest CNN poll, 7% of registered voters still don't know who they'll vote for in the upcoming presidential election. Seriously? Is it possible that some Americans are still saying, "Hmmmm... I dunno, I just can't decide who best reflects my attitudes, hopes and philosophies as an American -- Obama or McCain..."

Seriously? I simply can't believe that.

Obama and McCain are diametrically opposed on just about any issue facing Americans today -- social issues, financial issues, foreign policy issues. Name an issue and you can bet that Obama and McCain have completely different philosophies and approaches. With our lives being inundated every minute of every day with a politically obsessed media, there's absolutely NO excuse for any thinking American to still be undecided about who to vote for to lead this country for the next four years.

So if you're still undecided, this is me calling you, well...

Apathetic.

And ignorant.

And un-American.

Read a newspaper. Turn on the TV. Explore the Internet. Get out from under that rock and do something to educate yourself about the candidates who want to be the next president of YOUR United States of America at this absolutely critical time.

But do NOT tell me that you're "undecided"!

The View From My Office Window - Fall Edition

Every now and then (at least once per season, certainly!) I'll post photos from my office window. I love fall -- and this year it seems to be more beautiful than ever! Okay, so I don't have a view of the Space Needle, like my previous office. But the commute's shorter and parking's a breeze, so I'm just fine with this ol' Redmond business park office!

Wordless Wednesday: A Picture for Mr. McCain

(Compliments of Ron, our dear friend from ALASKA!)

An Open Letter to John McCain

Dear John,

If you were a true patriot and if you truly believed in "country first," you would be thinking past November 4th and realize that, no matter how this election turns out, we will ALL wake up on November 5th to a divided country in desperate need of healing. Instead, you're spending the last two weeks of your campaign acting like a suicide bomber, not only destroying yourself, but destroying everything in your path and intentionally, it seems, doing everything you can to further divide the country that you proclaim to love.

Instead of talking directly to the American people on the issues -- something that just might change a few votes -- you have decided that your best tactic at this late hour is to be hateful, divisive and petty. Why? What will that do for you? More importantly, what will that do for the country you insist that you put first? You are very obviously putting yourself first, John! The only explanation for your erratic and divisive behavior is that nothing -- NOTHING, including country -- is as important as your own ambition.

Look, I know that you've wanted this all your life and I know that it must be hard to see Barack Obama, a relative newcomer, incite such huge hope and attract such a huge and dedicated following, but it is what it is, John. You can do a lot to save yourself, your political future, and your reputation in these last weeks by changing your tone from attacking and negative to positive and progressive and talking about the issues and what you would do for this country that you opponent can't or won't do.

So my word of advice to you, Mr. McCain, is to be a man of your word, to actually PUT your country first by doing something that your friend George Bush never did do -- be a uniter, not a divider, starting right now. Because on the morning of November 5th, we ALL have to wake up and find a way to get along.

Welcome to My Vote for President!

Winterizing

A long time ago, at the very beginning of my career, I produced an educational filmstrip (that'll date me!) called Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons for a now-defunct division of The Walt Disney Company called Walt Disney Educational Media Company. In it, we talked about four distinct seasons and the noticeable changes from one season to the next. We showed Pooh Bear's excitement as bare trees blossomed in the spring, bore fruit in the summer, lost leaves in the fall, and were bare and sparse in the winter. I remember lamenting that the seasons were nowhere near as noticeable for me in Southern California as we depicted them in the filmstrip, wondering if perhaps we'd been a bit too dramatic.

At that point, I'd never lived outside Califonia and never experienced the sort of seasonal transition that we touted in the production -- a transition that I notice every year, now that we live in the Pacific Northwest!

This weekend, Fall was in the air. It was crips and cold, but sunny. The colors in the trees were almost beyond description, with deep reds and oranges and vibrant yellows. Finally this weekend I was forced to come to terms with the fact that it was time to winterize -- something we never did in California!

This...
became this:This...became this:And as my back cramped up, this...

(That's Elisabeth arriving home to spend the day with us. Aleks also came home for some peace and quiet away from the fraternity yesterday!)

became this:and this...(That's the shed in the background. Tom's still building it; his goal is to finish it in time for it to be a Santa's workshop.)

became this: