1. Your houseplants are alive, and you can't smoke any of them.
2. Having sex in a twin bed is out of the question.
3. You keep more food than beer in the fridge.
4. 6:00 AM is when you get up, not when you go to bed.
5. You hear your favorite song in an elevator.
6. You watch the Weather Channel.
7. Your friends marry and divorce instead of "hook up" and "break up."
8. You go from 130 days of vacation time to 14.
9. Jeans and a sweater no longer qualify as "dressed up."

10. You're the one calling the police because those %&@# kids
next door won't turn down the stereo.
11. Older relatives feel comfortable telling sex jokes around you.
12. You don't know what time Taco Bell closes anymore.

13. Your car insurance goes down and your car payments go up.
14. You feed your dog Science Diet instead of McDonald's 

leftovers.
15. Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.
16. You take naps.
17. Dinner and a movie is the whole date instead of the
 beginning of one.
18. Eating a basket of chicken wings at 3 AM would severely upset, rather than settle, your stomach.
19. You go to the drug store for ibuprofen and antacid, not
condoms and pregnancy tests.
20. A $4.00 bottle of wine is no longer "pretty good stuff."
21. You actually eat breakfast food at breakfast time.
22. "I just can't drink the way I used to" replaces "I'm never

 going to drink that much again."
23. 90% of the time you spend in front of a computer is for real
work.
24. You drink at home to save money before going to a bar.
25. When you find out your friend is pregnant you congratulate
  them instead of asking "Oh S*$# what the hell happened?"

 

Live your life!  This is not a dress rehearsal...

~L

NOTE TO SELF:
A latte is not a proper breakfast food.
Drunk drivers can be on the road any time of day.

"Can't afford not to buy it" is a term to be used sparingly.

Always know where your keys are.
Never use acetone on acrylics...they will melt.
Never take yourself too seriously, never take yourself too lightly either. 
The more attention you give your cats, the less attention they'll give your furniture.
Yogurt can (and should) be eaten with everything.
Chocolate can (but should not) be eaten with everything.
Never microwave metal, unless it is for entertainment purposes.
It is ok to sing in your car, but keep your eyes open.
People can and do change, but not how you expect them to.
Reality TV will induce a coma.
Your brain is your best asset, use it.
Always have a Plan B ready and a Plan C in formulation.

~L

Yay! I love the holidays,  but one of the reasons I love them is that they only happen once a year. If the major holiday season lasted all year, they would not be so special. Yeah, we have a few other holidays thrown in throughout the year. President's Day. Labor Day. Memorial Day. Independence Day. But still, the major holiday is still the Thanksgiving/Christmas time of year. They are great holidays...in that whole always-run-behind-in-endless-traffic-and-shopping-so-you-can-rush-to-visit-your-crazy-family-and-get-overanalyzed sort of way. :-)
But the holidays are officially over for me. This year ended with a Seattle Genetics holiday party held in January. It was fun! Kate and I were running late, so we went from pretty to drop dead gorgeous in 1/2 an hour. Not bad for two girls!! Shaved legs, makeup, dresses, heels...the full monty. (My girl looked fantastic BTW) It was great, I rarely get to dress up and go out like that, for a free meal no less!
In the pictures I posted from the party, I also included a picture of what my bedroom looked like after the tornado of beautification blew through.
So here I officially say, good bye holidays! I'll see you next year! (Hello gym membership...long time no see.)
~Linz

Goodbye 2005. You were a good year. A year of changes. A year of exploration. A year of kick-ass fun!
3 rafting trips. 8 hikes. 9 new friends. 1 birthday (of course). 1 move to a new apartment (1 new roommate). 1 new computer. 1 raise at work. Found 1  Hell of a girlfriend...2005 was good.  
I chose New Years eve to throw my first party! I think it was a success!
Andi, Paul and Chiru drove up from Portland Friday night to hang out and help get ready for the party. We made jello shots, arranged party platters, bought booze and set up a super playlist of songs. 22 were invited, 17 showed up! I had a great time seeing everybody! Doug, Joel and Fred also came up from Portland to attend. It was a great mix of old friends and new friends.  
After sufficient intoxification, the group walked a couple blocks to Gasworks Park to watch the fireworks at the Space Needle. There was a great view and dozens of people were there already. I got a phone call from Pradeep, who apparently went into the restroom at my apartment, and when he came out everybody was gone. LOL! I gave the poor guy directions to find us again. At midnight, we counted down, cheered vigorously and then began singing the New Year's song (Auld Lang Syne). It went something like: Should all acquaintence be forgot - do de daa, la la la LAAA! So laa do dee do daa la daah, do do daa la de dah daaaaaaa! (More cheering) Yeah, gonna have to learn the words to that song someday....
We soon began walking down the hill to go home and continue the party. Kate and I walked together along the paved path. Kate said, "Hey, let's run down the hill!" I quickly replied, " Yeah! Fun!"
We took three running steps, then due to the constant rainfall for the last 7 days, we both fell on our asses and continued to slide another 10 feet down the hill. We were immediately soaked from head to toe on our back sides. The front of our clothes were realatively clean. We layed there laughing for several minutes before continuing down the hill at a slower pace. We almost made it back to my apartment when I realized that the keys to my apartment were no longer in my pocket.
Kate and I went back to the hill in Gasworks Park to look for my keys. We walked up the hill to where we thought we had fallen before, and of course fell again! This time face first! We were covered with mud from head to toe, front to back, jeans to underwear. I continued up the hill to look for my keys while Kate stayed to look in the large mud-hole we had gracefully created. After a few minutes she yelled "I found them!" I came running back down to where she was, but when I got there, I slid and took us both down into the mud a third time. I almost wet myself laughing!
We made it back to the apartment just in time to catch the elevator with our friends. Kate and I must have looked pretty funny, total strangers were taking our picture. So, what is the first thing I did in 2006? I rolled around in the mud like an animal, but I am glad I wasn't alone. That is something to remember!

Hello 2006.
So far, this year is great! Let's see what happens next!
~L

Well, I was finally able to delete those nasy pictures from my computer. Who could do something so dirty? It surely wasn't me! Yes, I am talking about the Alderwood Heights Apartment mess. It is over, done, they are out of my life.
I can see now that I can move on to better times, greater things and nicer people. Miss Joanne Gifford will still be just a bitter woman on the verge of breaking. She will spit her rancid venom at numerous other unsuspecting tenants for several more years, but I no longer have to listen to her selfrighteous prattle. She will spend her life being alone and cry herself to sleep, still in total denial of her own shortcomings.  I can live with that. :-)

I also have a new computer to speak of! Yay! His name is Yumi. Say hi to the world Yumi! (hi) I love my new machine! It does wonderful things in an astonishing amount of time! I am confident that we will become a great team! We will change the world!

There is more! Oh is there more! ...but that's all for now.

~L

 

Again, good advice from Joel...

 

Holiday Eating Tips

 

1. Avoid carrot  sticks.  Anyone who puts carrots on  a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit.  In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately.  Go next door, where  they're serving rum balls.

 

2.  Drink as much eggnog as you can.  And quickly.  Like fine  single-malt scotch, it's rare.  In  fact, it's even rarer than single-malt scotch.  You can't find it any other time of year  but now.  So drink up!  Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in  every sip?  It's not as if you're  going to turn into an eggnog-aholic or something.  It's a treat.  Enjoy it.  Have one for me.  Have two.  It's later than you think.  It's Christmas!

 

3.  If something comes with gravy, use it.  That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone.  Pour it on.  Make a volcano  out of your mashed potatoes.  Fill  it with gravy.  Eat the  volcano.  Repeat.

 

4.  As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole  milk.  If it's skim, pass.  Why bother?  It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

 

5.  Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating.  The whole point of going to  a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free.  Lots of it.  Hello?

 

6.  Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do.  This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

 

7.  If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge.  Have as many as  you can before  becoming the center of attention.  They're like a beautiful pair of shoes.  If you leave them behind, you're never  going to see them again.

 

8.  Same for pies.  Apple.  Pumpkin.  Mincemeat.  Have a slice of each.  Or, if you don't like mincemeat, have  two apples and one pumpkin.  Always  have three.  When else do you get to  have more than one dessert?  Labor  Day?

 

9.  Did someone mention fruitcake?  Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid  it at all cost.  I mean, have some  standards.

 

10.  One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up  from the table, you haven't been paying attention.  Reread tips; start over, but hurry,  January is just around the corner.

 

Remember  this motto to live by: "Life  should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an  attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in  one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and  screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"


~L

I live in Seattle! I am young and love to go out and have fun! Live life to it's fullest!
So how did I spend this Friday night? Babysitting. Yup, I'm the life of this party...right here. :-)
I like the kids (Alex - 6 and Henry - 4), they are the best, but I couldn't help but laugh at myself as I think about my fun Friday night plans.
After the kids were in bed, Kate called and we talked until I was no longer able to form coherent sentences due to sleep deprivation (really, that only took 30 minutes. Like the early stages of narcalepsy). I hung up the phone, stared out the window at the wet ground and immediately fell asleep. I woke up one hour later to half an inch of snow and it was still falling! Wow! The kid's parents arrived home around 12:30 and I hopped into my car to head home.
It had been a while since I'd driven in the snow. It felt like I had accidentally left my e-brake on. Large flakes were flying at me like I was going warp 7 (not quite warp 10 - trekies!) flying through space. My car slid to a stop at every intersection. My tires whined a little every time I needed to get moving again. It was great! Exciting!
So what else could I do to make this travel through space and time complete??
I put a cd in the player...turned the volume up to 15 and felt my heart skip a beat as the Star Wars opening theme began to make my car vibrate. (Yes, it just so HAPPENED that cd was in my car....I didn't have the Star Trek theme on hand, I am not a geek you know!)
Oh those fun moments in life!
~L