Strange things afoot, happy puzzling things, and not so nice things

Not sure if I mentioned this before, but our friend Rachel watched a disturbing documentary called What the Health on Netflix here at our house. One could claim it a documentary that totes the vegan agenda, but I'm not so sure, not when I've had a previous doctor talk about a couple of the things that were mentioned in the film. The film mostly talks about how meat and dairy affect our bodies and what happens when you stop eating those things. Yesterday, we watched a supporting film at her house called Vegucation, and that one you kind of need to be prepared for or skip some of the farm scenes because it is graphic. The vicious animal abuse the food industry gets away with is criminal. I've been to a farm many times growing up and I know it is possible to treat animals with respect and kindness, even if they are being raised for sustenance, so I was a bit shocked by just how horrible animals are being treated in the big industry farms. This film deals with the meat and dairy industry primarily. Since Amanda and I both love animals and have both been vegetarian in our younger years,  we decided become so again. Amanda wants to push toward being a vegan but I'm not quite there. I could give up milk just fine, its the butter and cheese I'm worried about. We are going to try a few substitutes though. 

While out to dinner with Amanda's cousin from Seattle and his family, he asked about when we are going to be in Seattle for our honeymoon in October. We didn't know exact dates just yet because we are still trying to finalize what all we are going to do, but we gave him a rough estimate. He said as soon as we know, let him know and where we would like to stay because he and his wife want to cover our hotel stay. I was shocked. I wanted to cry. I'm not used to people outside of my family doing such tremendous things for me or us and when they do I always wonder why. A couple of friends let us stay with them when Amanda was starting to work at the paper just until we could get into an apartment. They helped us move our furniture even. But its not just these big things, its the little things too. I don't know how I'm going to repay these wonderful people. 

In other news, my therapist stumbled on a place in town called Fat Girl Yoga and thought of me. The first class is free so she wanted to know if I would try it. I went to the website and looked at it and signed up for the first class. I also got Amanda signed up and showed my friend Chris and my friend Rachel. They are signed up too. I figure, heck yeah, I'll do it. Chris and I have been wanting to get Yoga started together for awhile, this just might jump start us. Also, I can ask some questions and see about what not to do in regards to my back. 

Lastly, another group of kids have been on our patio, this time to play with some of our stuff. Since we've already had a pumpkin stolen (which was why we decided not to plant them this year), we aren't going to put up with that crap. I scared the little brat who was trying to make off with our watering can and glared at her older sister who was heading over with some attitude. She shut her mouth quick and pulled her sister away. Definitely going to speak to the office about this. None of these kids have boundaries and none of the parents around here seem to care. My parents would have kicked my ass for this crap when I was growing up and no because they were strict, but for respect for others and their property. 

One final note, for my American friends, I hope you all had a happy and safe 4th of July! We ended the day by driving up a mountain high enough that we could see the fireworks from downtown Spokane and the ones in Airway Heights. Two shows plus what everyone else was shooting off for nothing. Then we sat in the dark to admire the twinkling lights of the city and the stars. The moon was so bright! It was awesome!     

Becoming an Aunt, new noises, getting ready for Yule and Christmas

Narcisa and I are getting used to new noises in our new home, specifically the washer and dryer. It's becoming apparent that I need to put in a work order for the washer. It squeaks and rattles something awful when it hits any kind of spin cycle. 

To go with the laundry sounds, the maintenance men have been stomping and banging around upstairs for the last couple of days. Either the people above us were evicted or they abandoned their apartment because maintenance were throwing beds and chairs over the balcony and moving furniture out the other day. Yesterday I don't know what they were doing in the kitchen but they dropped something heavy and big, right above my head when I was cooking. It scared the crap out of me and out of my friend Birdy, who was visiting. 

On the subject of cooking, I screwed up my bierocks dough yesterday. I was trying to make two meals at once and didn't catch all the directions. Typically I make the dough out of Bisquick and just add a little sugar but I wanted to see if I could find something "authentic" per se. Rather, I wanted my Grandmother's recipe but she can't find it and is heading for Texas. Needless to say, my dough didn't rise. The filling is done and tastes good, might need an extra onion though. 

The other meal I made was a chicken stir fry with lots of veggies. I told Amanda last night that I'm not really worrying about any kind of weight loss at the moment, I'm getting though the holidays and then we need to take advantage of the little gym and indoor swimming pool here at our apartment complex. She suggested that we take the bus into downtown Spokane and walk around the park. There are plenty of benches for when I need to sit for a moment. I just have to be really careful with that because I tend to push myself and a lot of times overdo it, which is kind of counter productive. 

My previous next door neighbor Felicia deemed Amanda and I designated Aunts to children (which is awesome because I totally love those kids). So, we were invited to her eldest boy's Christmas concert. He was such a goofball and so adorable.

He's the one on the left in overalls and a red shirt. He did the actions to the songs they sang and kind of stood apart from his class mates. 

Things in the apartment are coming together more and more every day. I get a week off from school work so I will have more time to do things around the house. I might just take a day to sleep. I have been so exhausted lately. We put Christmas lights up in the kitchen last night. The blue ones over the cabinets are staying all year round because I love the blue glow. Amanda is going to saw up some wood we collected last week end and I am going to see if she will help me put up some decorations outside this weekend... when we have a moment. We are doing our Yule celebration with the IEPG this weekend. Friday, I will probably be cooking treats all day. Amanda will be making hers on Saturday morning. We've sort of become really busy people, it's nice in a way but I think things will calm down when we get everything unpacked and put away. 

Well, it's off to homework land for me.

Two Halloween Parties

This year we had two Halloween parties. Both were really nice, fun, and a little similar.

The first was two weeks ago. Our plan was to have three of Skoora's cousins come over for pumpkin carving, treats, movies, and a ride out to the little wooded area near our apartment to tell ghost stories. Because one of Skoora's aunts was in the hospital and she was touch and go, we ended up having four extra guests, which was perfectly fine, the more the merrier. 

Our evening began with pumpkin carving, music from Nox Arcana, and lots of stories and laughs. After the pumpkin carving contest we played a short game and handed out prizes for the winners. I took Skoora and one of her cousins out to set up our little place in the woods and came back alone to pick up our 'victims'. Bascially we had our family/friends wear pillow cases over their heads in the jeep and I drove around in circles and through the neighborhood for a little bit then hit the dirt-pothole-filled-road to the wooded area. I made sure to hit every pothole, drove through the woods once and then stopped at the site. 

All of our guests clamored out of the car and some were worried that there were bears or other such creatures to look out for. I thought that was cute but was glad to know they were mindful of nature, not that they needed to be in the middle of town so much. We told ghost stories, personal paranormal experiences, and then some got to talking about slender man. 

Half the group decided to walk home while the other half road with me in the jeep. Apparently one of the guys asked as they were walking, "The apartments are just over there aren't then?" Skoora told him to shut up but it was true, they were in fact, very close to our home. Heh heh heh. 

When we all returned to the house, we set up Skoora's computer and hooked it up to the TV via HDMI cable and played Slender Man. It was fun and I managed to get a couple of the notes and last the longest without meeting the Slender Man before I decided that running in circles was too annoying and ran straight for him. Then we took some of our guests home and watched Youtube videos for the rest of the evening with those who stayed. It was a really fun night and I got the opportunity to get better acquainted with some of Skoora's cousins. 

Our second party, last weekend, involved two of Skoora's much younger cousins who we were baby sitting for the night. As you might have guessed, Skoora has a very large family. Anyway, we watched some movies with the kids and took them out sans the pillow cases to the wooded area. I took the direct route. We piled out of the car and I told them a small, kid appropriate ghost story. Skoora snuck up on us and jumped out to scare the kids. It was good fun and after which we went back to the house to watch more movies. The next morning we carved a pumpkin. The little girl is quite bossy and thinks she is a princess. She even told me to shut up when we were watching a movie even though I wasn't talking. Okay, she's bossy, rude, and self-important, and I don't think I like her very much because she is in your face ha'f the time. I told her that she was being bad and rude and bad, little girls get grounded. She seemed to think it was funny. I am so glad I am not her mother and won't have to deal with her on a daily basis while she's growing up.  

Camp NaNoWriMo!

Today is the beginning of Camp NaNoWriMo! It is the same as National Novel Writer's month in that people who sign up write 50,000 words by the end of the month. It's essentially word vomit but at least you've gotten your ideas out on paper and can work from there.

Usually the Girlfriend and I would only do NaNoWriMo in November but this year I really wanted to try doing two. I have a novel that I have been trying to get out of me for awhile now (I have a few like that). You're supposed to start from scratch but I don't always. I will take a project that needs rewriting and start from the beginning and see where the rewrite takes me and then after NaNoWriMo is over I will take the best stuff from the first and 2nd or 3rd drafts and stitch them together to make a stronger piece of work. Last November I wrote a collection of short stories that still need to be edited and fine tuned and tweaked. Some further research needs to be done for one of them.

Anyway, we are geared up and ready to begin. We have coffee, snacks of pizza rolls, bagels, and chips (all the naughty stuff, we're going to get some fruit and veggies later). We have even set the girlfriend's mother up so she can particiapte too! I'm excited because I know what story she's going to be working on and I think it's freaking awesome! Meanwhile mine will have the usual death, sadness, and of course romance! I just need to finish cooking the pizzas and I am good to go on my end.

If I am still up, I will be going to the Kroc to swim at 5am. There are so few people there I can really move around, plus, no children. God love them but they are damn annoying when they decide you are their new best friend and have to tell you their life story. Cute, but I can't get my exorcise done with a kid yakking at me, mainly because I feel the need to pay attention instead of blowing them off. :)