Never been lonely, never been lied to.

This Thanksgiving weekend started off with a whimper. Cancelled plans left me staring down the prospect of Thanksgiving Eve by myself. Seattle was unseasonably cold on Wednesday, and when my boss excused us early, I bolted onto the wind-blown streets of downtown. I didn't have a plan but the air was so frigid that I ducked into a clothing store and bought a Spiewak jacket (originally sewn for the dockworkers of Red Hook). I roamed around until two co-workers returned my call for happy hour. I was saved from the evils of going home alone on TE!

After two glasses of celebratory wine (4 days off!), my friends had to depart their family-related ways. I jumped onto the bus and bumped into my totally cute barista, Addie (non-sexual crush). She invited me to stich n' bitch at Laurie's (fellow cutie barista). I went, it was good times.

Thanksgiving day was excellent. I ran in the Tacoma Turkey Trot- a 5k- with two friends. I drove Aunty Em and on the way back, I somehow veered off of I-5. We found ourselves on some single-lane road in the mountains. We must've been deep in conversation, 'cause no one noticed we weren't in Kansas anymore. We righted our way, thanks to my trusty atlas in the back seat.

I spent dinner with a motley crew of Sean's friends, many of whom are from Georgia. There was a ridiculous amount of southern food.

Although there's been some good get-togethers this weekend, I can't help but feel like Thanksgiving weekend is awfully long on this coast. This year is better than last- the weather is sunny and cold, as opposed to last year's grey and freezing rain, I have a car, a dude, I enjoy my apartment, I adore my friends. Still, it feels like a monstrous effort to fill 4 days with social activities. I don't know why I'm so scared to be alone this weekend, but I am. How many times can I go to the gym/get coffee/edit a mix tape?

Today I'll go to the studio. I'm lacking a good idea for Christmas cards. I have some other poster projects I could work on though. I'm seriously looking forward to going back to work tomorrow...I know how that sounds.

Moms: best invention ever.

I called my Mom last week, frantic with a personal health issue. She pointed out that I'd called her a few years ago with the same paranoia, and I said, "No, I used to be anxious about my teeth". She disagreed and reminded me that I freaked out about the same (fake?) ailment once when I lived in NY. Then I vaguely remembered and felt better, because it had been a false alarm.

On Friday I had two of my friends over for dinner and raced home from work to make my award-winning chicken lasagna (maybe not official awards but definitely praise). I forgot if I should put foil on the pan before baking, so I called my Mom and she affirmed, yes, foil till it's nearly done, then broil. Foil, broil. Check. She was having a dinner party too, with all her ladeez. They were three hours drunker than I was and were chiming in the background, "Shawna! We miss you!".
I miss them too. My Mom had also dressed up my Kewpie doll in her fiesta dress for her party.

Moms tend to be excellent for this sort of thing: health issues, cooking questions. But there are so many other things I feel like only a mother can solve, ease, or cure. I'm really lucky that I have a Mom, and a stellar one at that.

So to dovetail with a deep appreciation of my Mom, I finished watching Six Feet Under today. Holy crap. It was an epic effort. It took me 6 months to watch the whole series. I grew to love the Fisher family and felt particularly close to them. It was the first show I ever watched from beginning to end, so the first time I firmly grasped the characters and their relationships. Ruth Fisher dude. I love how Claire matured, and how she sprung out of the whole angsty-artist bitch role. My sister treated my mom similar to how Claire treated Ruth, when she was in high school. Luckily, my mom and sister are close, respectful and really like each other now. Ruth and Claire's relationship at the end is awesome.

Cheers to Moms!

Schooner of Porter

Yesterday I was the chair for the office meeting, which is not a big deal for most. It's wierd; during Beer Friday (an hour at the end of the week devoted to beer, snacks, and socializing in the name of employee sanity and brotherhood), I am my usual social self. But at our monthly meetings I get a pit in my stomach as we go around the room and briefly describe our current projects. It is a deep, ridiculous fear of being the center of attention. Even at something as mundane as an office meeting.

Anyway, I volunteered to host it and, in a moment of bravery, to do a project presentation. These are few and far between, but I'm hot off the trail of a cool marina planning project in Anacortes. It's a seaside town that, believe it or not, I think I have a crush on. This presentation was hanging over my head for 5 weeks so I started working on it the day before. My PowerPoint skills are sharp but my presentation skills are green. But as a planner, I absolutely have to refine them.

The presentation went as well as I hoped. I felt like I applied my self and sense of humor to it, and kept it informative, light, and to the point. Glad that's over! I felt high on life afterwards. Like, when can I present again?

I'm loving my job. Today we took a ferry to a nearby island, met with our Navy contact, got badges for Navy base access and had lunch at a brewery. I had a schooner of porter. Tasted like dessert. After returning to the office, I wrote part of a proposal and tomorrow I'll do its document layout and pull graphics together. I love that shit!

Missing class and Feist

I opted out of class tonight for the sake of my mental health. I haven't had a free moment since I got back from Erin's wedding in Charlottesville, VA. I've been trying to keep some order in my apartment but it's been pretty disgusting, I haven't unpacked my bags yet, and my cupboards were bare. I also felt like I hadn't worked out since the Clinton administration so I went to the gym, which is cheap but a hole, and came home to clean and do laundry.

I used to love the smell of Clorox bleach. Something about the antiseptic and clean smell was comforting. Ever since I went "shopping" at the free pile in my building's laundry room and found a bottle of Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day countertop spray, I've been all about that organic gardenia scent. OMG I really am turning into a Seattleite. I gotta get rid of the Clorox, because now I just feel the fumes choking my virgin lungs.

Feist is playing at the Paramount tonight (a very old, very beautiful theater). I am obviously not there, despite my love for her.

Erin's wedding was this past weekend. As my friends can attest my digital camera is large and I have to warm it up before it does its thing. Henceforth, my photos are crappy, but I do recommend Jay and Maegen's. They were taken with a camera built in this century. The wedding was a blast, the weather was warm, dry and sunny, and I got to spend time with my old friends. And historic downtown C'ville is pretty cool. After my trip down south I stopped in NYC and met my family. We did our annual krazy Kristmas photoshoot (thanks Jeff!). But I'm sworn to secrecy as to what the theme is. I will say that we were foiled by the NYC marathon. Fun times all around.