Interrupted

My Life Thus Far
2009-03-30 08:31:12 (UTC)

Frivolously Luxurious

I didn't think I'd have it in me to write tonight, but of
course I've gotten that second wind that always blows in
around 10pm and now I'm feeling up to it.

What an amazing day! When I woke up this morning, the sun
was shining, the birds were chirping. It was a
quintessential Spring day. Everything you could want. I
hadn't had any plans for the day, but I knew I couldn't
stay couped up inside (and there was no way the children
would allow it). So, I got the spontaneous idea of going
to Seattle :) Pike Place Market in particular. Of course
it's an outdoor market and I hate being cold, so we never
go in the Winter months. I love the market.

About half an hour before we were set to leave, I got a
text from Kisha (one of my fellow Stennis wives) asking if
I was doing anything with the kids since it was such a
nice day. I figured the more the merrier, so I invited her
to come to Seattle with us. I like Kisha. She's one of the
few Navy wives I can tolerate (besides Gen, but I knew her
before she was a Navy wife).

We caught the 12:35pm ferry, had lunch at Red Robin. Which
I felt a little silly doing. We've got a Red Robin right
here on our side of the water. We should of eaten at a
more Seattle-esque location, but with the long lines and 5
children between us, Red Robin was easy and kid-friendly.
After that we headed to the market, which was an adventure
in and of itself. Usually I wear Keenan in a sling and
forgo the stroller, but with him tipping the scales at 23
pounds, it's just not comfortable wearing him in a sling
for 5 or 6 hours. I brought the stroller. Kisha's got a 1
year old baby, so she had a stroller too. There's an
insane amount of stairs getting from the waterfront to the
market, but there are elevators. The only problem is
finding them and then figuring out which floor to get off
at. We managed, though.

I couldn't go to the market without bringing back a few
trinkets. Not much. Snookums always buys me one of the big
beautiful bouquets. This time of year there were a lot of
Tulips and Daffodils, which I love, but it made me a
little sad not having Snookums here to pick my flowers for
me, so I got a lovely arrangement of dried flowers. I'm
not sure what kinds of flowers they are, but I know
they'll look really nice on my nightstand. It's become a
tradition of mine to always have flowers by my bedside.
Snookums (of course) started the tradition (he is the
source of all my frivilously luxurious habits). I still
have the last bouquet he brought home to me before he
left. It's not very pretty anymore, but I couldn't bring
myself to toss it. Now that I've got a worthy replacement
I think it'll be easier.

I added a couple new pieces to my Jade jewelry collection
(a pair of earrings - small cabochons - and a Buddha
medallion). I also got a polished oyster shell pendant
that is so highly polished all you can see is the
iridescent mother of pearl. I love it. Both the Buddha
medallion and the oyster shell came on black cord (they
were from a Chinese vendor and black cord is very common
in Asian jewelry) but I think I want to get white gold
chains for them. At least the Buddha. The oyster shell is
so pretty I could hang it on twine and it would still be
stunning. My last treasure is an amazing one. A Buddha
statue made of Mt. St. Helen's ash from the May 1980
eruption. It will serve as both a memento of my time in
Washington and a symbol of my faith. When Snookums comes
home I'm sure to have a nice Buddha collection. He bought
me a few Buddhas from some of his different port visits.
Japan, Korea, China, Taipei, etc. I can't wait to see them!

On our way back to the ferry Kisha got distracted by a
sign on the sidewalk for an African import store called
Zongo. It was tucked away in the back of a warehouse next
to The Crab Pot (a restaurant Snookums will be taking me
to before we transfer). I didn't see anything I wanted in
Zongo and neither did Kisha, but by happenstance we
stumbled across the Seattle Waterfront Arcade, which I'd
never known was there! It's what Chuck E. Cheese's would
have been like 50 years ago. The kids got to ride a
carousel and play arcade games for tickets. After about an
hour we'd all had enough, so the kids cashed in their
tickets for candy and we headed to the ferry in earnest.
It was a long, tiring day, but it was so fun!

I ate way too much today. My stomach is not happy in the
least. I'll have to get back on track tomorrow (and the
next day and the next), but it was worth it. Life is about
living and there's more to living than looks. Sure I want
to be thin, but I want to enjoy living, too. Everybody
deserves a free day. It's back to business tomorrow. Ciao.




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