Hot, hot, hot!

Well, the temperature in Seattle will be/has been reaching record highs this week. They are expecting over 90 degrees for five or six days in a row this coming week. We are (Geoff - not really) staying cool by using a fan and not turning on the computer at home, so there won't be many blog updates.

Last night the coolest the house got was 81 degrees. Yikes. We'll keep you posted on the heat in the house as the week goes along.

Our basement is even starting to get warm. A couple degrees warmer down there and we might have to ask someone with A/C to hold onto our wine! (and Geoff's record collection, which has taken up temporary residence there)

Wish us luck (and cool weather).

Big Ole Update

(view from the top of Mt Diablo - Geoff and Jaime's Cali Trip)

So - let's just keep this messy and get things updated.
Did you know...

On June 27th, Jaime ran the Rock and Roll 1/2 marathon. She finished in 2:29:00. I'm super proud of her!!! And she's super proud of herself for beating her goal of 2 and 1/2 hours! ROCK ON JAIME!!!! Also many thanks to Craig for the running plan and the moral support. Have I told everyone I think running is a tool of the devil?


4th of July weekend Jaime and I traveled to San Francisco to visit our respective families. We had a wonderful time in Sonoma wine tasting, had a great lunch with Uncle David and Aunt Elizabeth, and spent WAAAAAAY too much on good wine. We FINALLY got the chance to get Jaime out to the East Bay and traverse Mt. Diablo (there's a road all the way to the top). The rest of the weekend was spent back in the city at Pagra (Grandpa) Steve's house, and in Pacifica for the 4th at Uncle Jack and Aunt Cindy's house, where I got a chance to exercise my primal urges (alcohol and fire).


Jaime's uncle Jeff (on her dad's side) got a new puppy - a Tibetan terrier. Jaime took like 100 pictures of the dog. Here's one -



I have a (slightly) new job in Nordstrom IT. It's not really official, and I sure as heck didn't get a raise, but I will now be a member of the TSS (technology support services) Project team. It means less time answering phones for me (a good thing) and a chance to develop some more of my IT/Project Management skills (also a good thing). I'll let you know how things are working out for me in a couple of months...

Other than that, we're just trying to keep caught up on housework and gardening, and finish out the summer. Somewhere in the fall we're hoping to get out to London to visit Tina and Ryan. Oh yeah - Pearl Jam in playing the Key Arena September 21st and 22nd, and I got my Ten Club tickets. I LOVE MY WIFE because I was stuck in a meeting and she faithfully got onto their website and scored me the tickets. General on sale is this Saturday at 10am through Live Nation. Get some and I'll see you there!!!!!

Josh and Liisa - we'll see you in two weeks!

Oh, hey, it's a blog!

Updates soon, I promise. Jaime and I have been buuuussssssssssssssssy!

Brewfest 09

A bit late, but that's ok. On Saturday, Jaime was kind enough to play DD for brother Ryan and I at the annual Washington Brewers Festival. The weather was perfect, it wasn't too crowded, and we were surrounded by (99%) great beer! I'd love to say what my favorite was...but honestly I don't remember.

Where else will you see grown men with tiny little glasses and their pinky fingers sticking out?

This cool doggie's gone to heaven...

It is with a VERY heavy heart that I have to share the news that our dog, Chance, passed away Saturday night...

He was very lucky when we found him, we weren't really looking for a dog at the time, as we had recently lost a pup to a car. But I was insistent (and 14) at the time, and my parents cautiously agreed. We found him at a boarder's house. He had been returned to his breeder by the family that bought him as a puppy when they discovered Brittany pups are bundles of energy and maybe don't compete well with young babies. He was around 1 when we got him in the early spring of '95. They had given him the ubiquitous name "Buddy." We worked hard to change that, and soon he was "Chance." He also took on a habit of hauling around an old blanket that we had given him. Over the years, he went through several, ripping them up, burying them, and generally wearing them out.

(Chance with his first "biddy")

Chance only ever really aged in the fact that the hair on his face turned gray. He was definitely slower in old age, but he never lost his youthful look. As my sister said - "It looked like he ran into a wall with his nose when he was young!" (As a compliment, of course).

(Chance with Jake at the cabin, Aug. '08)

He was always friendly, and will be greatly missed...

All Kinds of Awesome!

North Carolina State student accused of creating a monster...

Goodbye, 4244 Shoreclub Drive

( A closer inspection reveals Mt. Rainier rising in the background)

Sunday night we said goodbye to my grandmother's house on Mercer Island. She has been at an assisted living facility for a while (she's 90) and the time came to let it go...

So the family all gathered (we missed you Tina and Ryan, Brad and Mary!) to enjoy it one last time, and say goodbye. As cousin Lindsey said - "My memories of Christmas Eve are all here."

It was because of my grandparents and this house that I got to attend Mercer Island High School, where I met most of my life long friends. My grandfather passed away here, my uncle's wake was here...and, simply put, it had the best damn view in the neighborhood.


I'm going to let it go now...