Geoff Makes it to Work

Well, as of 10am, I am at Nordstrom and working...it's nuts out there...stay safe...Jaime's at home and hopefully I'll be able to make it home tonight - only took 3 hours and two failed bus attempts to get here!

December Snow...

**7:00 Update - Here's the video from a neighbor of the Corolla getting tagged by the tow truck -

**3:30 Update - Here's a link to all my pictures. So Jaime and I have been out and about taking in all the madness of people trying to drive on the ice. We also discovered this morning that a tow truck slid into the Corolla where it was parked - d'oh! So now it's on its way to a body shop to get fixed up all purdy and new! Thistle street near our place is a complete sheet of ice! Cars sliding, buses stuck, craziness!



So, it snowed last night...
I don't know what it's like over the rest of the Puget Sound, but apparently West Seattle was one of the harder hit areas (especially our area). Of course, Jaime and I didn't know this when we left a Christmas party last night around 10. It was snowing lightly in Wallingford - we headed out through downtown where it was wet, but not sticking, got over the West Seattle Bridge and the situation changed. As we made our way down 35th back toward home, it got worse and worse. We made it all the way to Thistle St, where I made a driving in the snow mistake, and tried to turn on to Thistle a little too quickly. I turned the wheel, hit the brakes, and nothing happened. Jaime and I slid into and up onto the curb, hit a dry spot, and the car came to a stop. "Oh, sh*t" Fortunately at this point the only damage is one flat tire. I'll probably have to get it alligned after getting the tired fixed as well, but the wheels are both pointing in the same direction, so hopefully no bent tie rods. The other fortunate thing was that we were only six blocks from home, so we grabbed our stuff, locked the car, and trudged home in the falling snow. Enjoy some pictures from last night/this morning!

Confessions of a First Time Metrosexual/Christmas Prep

Ok, I'll admit it - Jaime took me to InSpa today and I got my eyebrows/neck/upper back waxed. There.

Say what you will, but the last time I got my haircut the lady pulled the collar back on my shirt and used the razor to shave all the little hairs on the back of my neck. Ok, time to do something about this. Hence the waxing.


In other news - Jaime and I began (and pretty much finished) setting up the house for the holiday season! And now I get to bug her by asking her if she wants to know what she got for Christmas, and then telling her too bad!

Sportwagen!!!!

Finally, after waiting for almost 5 months! The Sportwagen has arrived, and we love it! Jaime and I got the call last Sunday that the car was in and ready for pickup. Mean Jaime made me finish the yard work we were catching up on after our week in Berlin. Sheesh! After finishing that, we made the trip out to Chaplins VW in Eastgate.

"Behold, there it is! God has given unto us a Black, 6 speed manual, Sportwagen TDI!!! Rejoice and give thanks; now let's fire it up and exercise those demons with 236 lb/ft of glorious low end torque!!!" (Ok, not my real words, but imagine the feeling) We met up with our salesman Vasco, he handed us the keys and told us to "take it for a spin to make sure it's everything you wanted." Key in, car on, wait, where's the diesel clatter? Nearly impossible to make out, this car is quiet! With a steady right foot, the sunroof open, and my wife riding shotgun, we headed out...

Yes, it is everything I've wanted! My first new car. We headed back to the dealership to finish the paperwork. After another 15 minutes or so, we were finished. Vasco gave us an overview on all the features, gave us a temporary plate, and bid us fairwell. I have to say - I was very impressed with his professionalism throughout the entire ordeal of obtaining the car and would reccomend him. No ewwwww car salesman feelings!

And we were off on the open road, again, but for real! The most difficult part now will be following the reccomended break in procedure for the engine (no red lining for the 1st thousand miles, no cruise control, etc.) I can't wait to really put my foot into it once the engine is properly ready. This car is just awesome! And now some pictures!

(Gigantic Sunroof!)

(After a week of use, but still purdy!)

Oh, also a big shoutout to Craig for finishing the Seattle Marathon today! Run like the wind, Craig!

MMMMMmmmm

God Bless the man that thought "you know what my hot dog is missing? Some cream cheese! I think I'll slather that on!" And man, Dante makes a mean hot dog. Some things never change; Left Hand Smoke rockin' it hardcore at the Tractor, many Mac and Jacks, and a damn good hot dog at 2 in the morning!

For a profile of Dante the hot dog vendor, check out a story on his struggles and redemption in the Seattle Times

Just a brief update

Hello All,

We are having a wonderful time in Berlin. I have been getting a lot of work done and Geoff has been able to sleep in, and then travel all over the city, seeing a ton of history. I am taking days off today and tomorrow to get some sightseeing in with him. We'll come back with pictures, I promise.

Last night was the company party. It was very well organized and a bunch of fun. They announced some extra support for the PRESEPT study (my project), so everyone was in a very good mood. Geoff was excited that they had a live band; country music none the less. I'm sure he will expand upon it more later, but the lead singer looked a little like Elvis and his English was not very good. =)

Later on in the evening, a DJ took over and everyone started dancing (that includes Geoff, some of my co-workers, my boss and the CFO).

We are having a blast! Can't wait to see everyone soon!

San Francisco Trip

I know its been a REALLY long time since I blogged, so I figure it is time. We had a wonderful trip to the bay area this weekend. We started out at a wedding in Stanford. Geoff's friend Julie got married at Stanford's Memorial Church at 11am. So we quickly found out that a 7am Virgin America flight gets you in to SFO in just enough time to change into your wedding attire, rent a car, and drive to Stanford, but only if you jog from your parking spot to the church (in heels).

The ceremony was beautiful and the reception was a blast. We took fun pictures in a photoboth (see above) and got seated at a table with a real life horse whisperer. We also learned to Cha-cha (sort of).

After that, we drove up to the city to see Pagra. Michal and Ryan were also in town and stayed the night with us. We dined at Ernesto's for dinner - if you haven't been, its a hole-in-the-wall Italian place that cooks with a lot of garlic! yum!

On Sunday we drove up to Napa and did a little wine tasting and had lunch with Uncle David and Aunt Elizabeth. It was a completely relaxing day - much needed. We had just enough time to swing by Aunt Susan and Uncle Pat's house for dinner with Pagra, Mike and the kids. It was a wonderful trip and I totally enjoyed spending time with family, friends and my hubby!

(Geoff here! Here's a hilarious picture of my brother riding the chair that Jaime's grandfather has in his house to get up the steep narrow stairs!)