I don't think I look like myself in this pic. Do you think I look like someone else?? A little bit?? Who???

OK.

What is up with the Amersons?? Well, we have finished our refinance, new mortgage starts in February. Ethan did pay off the credit cards, so we have no debt but mortgage, which is awesome.

We are going to Hawaii in September, still trying to decide if we want to tack on a couple days on Oahu before going to our timeshare in Maui for a week or if we want to fly to the Big Island for a couple days to see the volcanic activity. Suggestions???

We are supposed to go to Los Cabos in April--still waiting to hear back from our timeshare for confirmation. We upgraded from a studio to a 2-bedroom to go with Justin and Kim (our wedding gift to them). So, hopefully that gets approved and I can get some plane tickets. Getting a little antsy--usually I have vacation stuff all booked much earlier than this!

What else.....we didn't really make New Year's resolutions this year. Still working on the Treks--now finishing season 4 of TNG so we are over half way done with that series.

One resolution we DID talk about (not a New Years one, more of a life one), is to visit every continent (except of course Antarctica which just doesn't sound like a lot of fun). We have a VERY long way to go on this one, but I am sure we can do it. I have been to Australia and Ethan to Europe, but it doesn't count until we BOTH go, so........ I am hoping to go to Europe in 2009. Not sure where, but Athens and Rome are high on my list. Maybe fly into London (easiest), go to Paris for a day or so (have heard that Paris is best done in small bites--probably take the train through the chunnel and spend one night there), then go to Rome (Ethan has already been, but knows I really want to go), I would love to see the Cinque Terra area, and maybe a train or something to Athens and fly home from there?? Or Athens first, then Rome. I think it is easier to fly home from Rome then Athens.

Cool?? I MUST take Ethan to Australia to snorkel and see Sydney. So awesome! Asia will be pretty easy--tons of countries to choose from. Maybe Singapore with Justin and Kim?? His dad used to live there, so Justin has been and would have tips, plus it is quite English speaking and the language barried would be much easier. But does it count as the Asian continent??? I will have to think about that.

South America will be pretty easy, too. Lots of our timeshare properties if we go that route, and lots of countries I wouldn't be scared of going to.

Africa will be our hard one, but the most looked-forward-to for me. It has long been a dream of mine to go to the Congo. With the political instability there, that is not an option for me, but we could do South Africa or Tanzania or Namibia or something like that. One of the nurses at work recently did Tanzania and South Africa and has raving reviews of her journey.

So. Lots of travel ahead in our lives. I love going places and seeing things and just experiencing the world. Ethan and I gave up giving each other gifts for Christmas or birthdays with the thought that we would rather give 'experiences' (ie: travel), so we are making a point to do at the very least one big trip each year, and hopefully a couple smaller ones as well. So 2008 is Los Cabos (our first return to a city we have already experienced) and Hawaii, and hopefully 2009 is Europe and a Vegas trip (should have our Treks done and that was part of our resolution!!).

What else... I am going to Portland in February for the CKC convention (just for one night....short but sweet).........

We are hoping to take a train to Portland in March for Kim's birthday and do a McMenamins hotel--probably Edgefield. We got buy one, get one free vouchers from the Seahawks with our playoff tickets that are just too good to give up.


Other things........

Seahawks!! Had an awesome time at the game on Saturday. My head hurt, my throat hurt, I lost my voice, but......we are going to Green Bay!! We want the ball, and we're gonna score!!! (probably no one who reads this particular blog will get that last sentence, but it still cracks me up and is quite popular here in the South Alaska Seahawks nation).



So. That is what is up. I have a picture I will try to remember to load in later. I went to a Christmas party for the Ortho staff at work last month and straightened my hair. This picture totally makes me look like someone else!! I have an inkling who *I* think I look like, but I will have to see what my loyal readers think.....

An economic update

We are in the process of refinancing our mortgage. This will be our 5th (I think) new mortgage (including the condo), so we are really old pros at the process. My favorite part about refinancing is that we get to take a month off from payments. Yippee! Ethan always pays a month ahead, so we are already feeling the love. No more payments until February!

We were in an interest only loan, which is not a very good idea unless you can commit yourself to paying extra each month. Ethan being the stickler he is, we have paid an extra $1000 each month since we got the house. We did interest only because with the massive price for this house, that was the easiest loan for us to get into when we bought, and gave us the lowest required payments (even though we ended up paying extra). So.

We are now getting into a 15 year loan, at more than a whole point lower than our previous rate (thanks, Greenspan, for cutting that interest rate!!). Ethan has scoured the net for mortgage calculators and determined that if we add a couple hundred bucks on each month to the payment, we will have the whole shebang paid off in October, 2020. If we stay here that long.....

Now our focus is cleaning up the credit cards. We should not have any balances on our CC's. Really. Not a good thing. What does it matter if I buy things when they are on sale, if I am going to end up paying finance charges on them?? We are adopting a new strategy of pre-paying (overpaying) our credit cards so they have a credit on them ,and just staying within that amount. We make enough money not to have this debt--just gotta pay attention and buy things when we have the money for them--wait a week if I need to add some moolah to the card before making a purchase. Yes, this is all Ethan's idea. I am much more on the line of everyone-else-has-credit-card-debt-so-it-isn't-bad-if-we-do-too, but I realize the wisdom of Ethan's words.....so I will stick with the new system.

So, once the credit cards are cleared out, we are hoping to get some sort of tax refund. I am going to head over to Home Depot to get some quotes for remodeling our kitchen and replacing our sliding glass door downstairs. We want to tile the kitchen floor, replace the cabinets with something that isn't ORANGE, tile the kitchen counters (or slab granite, if it is not too terribly expensive, but I fear it will be.....but there is a slab place like 100 yards from our house so I MUST check it out), tear out the 6 food wide wall that blocks the kitchen from the rest of the upstairs and leave the bottom 4 feet or so intact so it forms the base of an island where our current tall coffee counter is (can't rip the whole thing out because the wood flooring ends where it is and it would be a serious pain in the butt to redo that). Somehow make a hidey hole for the garbage, recycling and yard waste cans under there, and voila!! New kitchen! Might also replace our stupid stove with F2 warnings and a stupid white top. Why would you get a stove with a black front and a white top in a kitchen with all black appliances???

Anyway. Our goals for the new year.



Oh, but also still working on our new years resolution from LAST year==to watch every episode of Star Trek. We have watched every episode of the Original series (3 seasons), and all the original series movies (multiple times--we own those). We had to wait about 2 months to get the first season of The Next Generation, since there was such a high demand for those, but we have now completed the first three seasons (out of I think 7 total), and are well into the 4th season. Still have Deep Space Nine (I think 6 seasons??), Voyager (7 seasons), and Enterprise (5, I think). Maybe we will finish next year?? More likely in 2009, but we WILL finish eventually!! And go to Vegas and stay at the Hilton to celebrate!!

Our cable box died the other day, and we had to have the cable guy out to replace it. He was not fully stocked in his van, so........

We got a new cable box with DVR! This is TiVo, for all of the uninitiated. We would never pay for something like that, but it is pretty cool to have! We just tell it what shows we like, and it will tape every episode of them. And, we can watch live TV and pause it if we need to take a potty break or get a snack. So cool!

Updation

Nothing going on here, just thought I would give you something new to look at. Well,typing is not so fun to look at but at least you will think I have a witty new post here for a second when you first surf over here. Sorry to let you down....

My new friend

I won this awesome photo printer off of eBay a couple days ago. It prints 4x6 and 5x7 and can also do panoramic pics--basically I can print anything up to 5 inches wide. I can also use cardstock in it if it is cut to the correct size. I have been using Mom's printer (4x6 only) to do some scrappiness--mostly I type out text for my layouts and print it onto cardstock. I don't like the look of my handwriting, so this is a total upgrade!! Now I just have to figure out where to buy 5x7 photo paper!!!

AND...I only paid $40 for it (including shipping). It looks like a little boombox when it is not in use. The sides pop open when you turn it on. It even has a remote control. Which is dumb. But it has one!! And I can get refill ink on eBay for only $8.99!!

Years ago, when I knew I was home alone and no one would hear me, I would sing in the shower. I sang patriotic songs. The Star Spangled Banner, America the Beautiful, My Country 'tis of Thee. After 9/11 I added in God Bless America as a new favorite.

I have always liked those songs.

I remember once at a Sonics game, the singer was singing the national anthem and the microphone died. It totally brought tears to my eyes when, without missing a beat, the entire stadium joined in and sang the rest of the anthem with the singer we could no longer hear.

Shortly after 9/11, things started to change. Patriotism took on a new meaning. A meaning now associated with exclusion and mistrust; with a holier than though attitude, a 'might is right' philosophy. The wave of violence and fear and stereotyping and racial profiling that spread through this country was appalling. Patriotism and love for country was no longer the pure, 'clean' thing it seemed in the past. It changed.

Patriotism no longer works for me, and that really irks me. In Sydney for the IDBF world championships with mom, the Canadians won about two thirds of the gold medals. Which means we heard their anthem played numerous times. Once, the speakers cut out. Without missing a beat, the Canadians in attendance, along with people from other countries who by now knew that anthem, started singing the song. It was beautiful. It brought tears to my eyes. But when the US supporters started chanting U-S-A later on to cheer on a paddling team during a race, I couldn't join in. It is totally against what I stand for, what I believe. I wanted to support the team and Mom, but I just couldn't yell out that chant without feeling just wrong. And that totally pisses me off.

I didn't wear any USA clothing during the races, don't OWN any USA clothing, wouldn't wear the jacket that mom got for me. I felt bad, but not as bad as I would have felt by actually wearing it. Wearing that stuff no longer is just showing pride for your country, it is being smug and discriminatory and looking down on people and feeling superior.

During Sonics and Seahawks games and other places where they sing the national anthem, I turn my back towards the flag, or at least turn myself sideways away from it. I don't applaud, I don't yell out when the singer inevitably holds out that long note on 'free' at the end of the song. I respectfully stand and listen, but I think about what this stands for and what this country is doing in my name and against my will.

I look forward to the day when a new face is in power in this country. I look forward to the rebuilding of international relations that have all but been destroyed these past 7 years. I look forward to the day when I can once again feel respect and pride for this country, and not just shame for what we do around the world. I look forward to vacationing around the world and not hoping that people assume I am Canadian. I want to be proud to be an American again.

I look forward to singing in the shower again.

I concede

I went bra shopping this weekend at Victoria's Secret (they sent me a coupon AND a voucher for free panties. Who can resist free panties??), and the bra I purchased was not the size I thought I was. I tried on two different cup sizes and two different band sizes. Lets just say the band size did not need to be increased, but the cup size did. I think the old bra I was wearing was just so stretched out that it still worked for me.

Fancy fruity drink with a heart shaped watermelon. So pretty!!

Does Alyca have big boobs??

Here is a question that has come up today. I have always thought of myself of having sort of average size boobs. I make sure to wear nice, 'cleavage' sort of bras with good support which I suppose makes them look a bit bigger than they are. But I still see so many bigger boobs I think I am average. At work, I am told that I am a big boobed person. Am I?? Yes, compared to some family members (Poor Aunt Bobbi Jo....), I am larger, but I still think I am average.

Am I??

Seeing how I was vacationing on an island that was hit by a tropical storm that killed over 150 people, it is nice to see that my friends and family are so concerned for my welfare.

Ethan and I had messages all on our phones and email from concerned coworkers who were convinced that we had been killed. It was kinda funny--we had to call in to work and notify the engineering department that Ethan wasn't dead.

Tropical storm Noel was not particularly big or violent, it just decided that it liked Hispaniola and sat there for 7 days swirling. Imagine sitting beneath a giant toilet that is flushing for a solid week! We were on the north part of the island so we just got a ton of rain, minor flooding and some wind. The southern part of the island was hard hit and had massive flooding and mudslides and damage and destruction. The worst thing that happened for us was that our snorkelling trip was cancelled and we never got to go. Other than that, it was a good trip.

THe one tour we were able to do despite the rain was the city tour--we got to go to the Brugal rum factory and watch the bottling process. Pretty cool! It is the third largest rum factory in the world, and a cool experience. We also went to the Amber museum where they have the chunk of amber from Jurassic Park with a mosquito trapped in it (you know, the amber on the staff of the kooky guy who made the park??). Pretty neat. We learned a bit about the history of the DR and Puerto Plata, toured around town a bit, had a nice lunch and headed back to our hotel.

Most of our time was spent in and around the pool nearest our room--the one with a swim up bar. If you are in a pool, does it matter when it is raining?? The rain wasn't all nonstop, and often was pretty light so we toughed it out. After all, we ARE from Seattle.......

Try this for a laugh

http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/tenday/DRXX0005?from=36hr_topnav_business

I just got an email telling me that after a long wait (seriously--over 6 months), our timeshare exchange has gone through!! Next September we will be spending a week at the Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resort Villas on Maui. Woohoo! It is a very fancy resort that is totally no comparison to our very nice but teeny resorts in Puerto Vallarta. We would never be able to afford to stay here

Our website: http://www.playadelsolpv.com/ Their website: http://www.westinkaanapali.com/

Fancy, no????


We were SOOO thinking that our timeshare purchase was a waste of money and perhaps a very bad financial decision. Time will tell, but at least we have one great vacation coming up!!

We are trying to get together with Justin and Kim in February/March to go to Mexico for our timeshare, so that is two fairly free vacations next year! I love having them all planned out ahead of time so I can look forward to them and think abou thow much fun I am going to have. We have two buy-one, get-one for $50 tickets through Alaskan airlines, and since they now fly directly to Maui and Honolulu, we have two more fancy vacations on cheapo prices. I swear, getting those Alaskan airlines visa cards were our absolute best ideas. We always use the free ticket, and we are using the miles for our trip to DR and I used them on a last second flight to Redmond earlier this year. Easy to book, so convenient, and we just use the cards on things we are already going to buy--groceries, etc just so we get the miles as a bonus.

Anyway. Travel!!!!

Things you did not know about Jobie

Jobie and his partner at work, Matt Adams (tee hee, I know), won the Red Bull soapbox derby here in Seattle a couple weeks ago. They fabricated the car and had some other buddies who provided the driving skillz. Pretty cool!

Fire up your snapfish!! I am going to bring my laptop to work with me tomorrow so I can upload my gazzillion Australia pictures for the viewing public. I only have the first week-worth edited, but that is about 600 pictures to peruse so I am sure it will keep y'all busy. I will make one folder for the "all star" pictures if you just want to see the ones that are actually in focus and everyone has their eyes open....

I will use snapfish.com, unless anyone knows of a better site....I am not purchasing from here so I don't really care about the prices so much (I use costco.com), but a site with a good uploading system and a good viewing system would be nice. So....lemme know if you know of one???

On returning home

Where did I leave off??? Okay, we snorkelled, we SCUBAd, we went to the Aboriginal show.......

Thursday, we headed back to Sydney. Our flight was delayed around an hour because the reverse thrusters were not working on our plane. Kinda important. We ended up getting to Sydney around 4pm and checked into our hotel around 4:45. Mom and I were upgraded to a Queen balcony suite because they were all out of cheap crappy economy rooms. We had a nice view over the water, but did not stop to enjoy it...

We all headed out (me as trail guide), and walked across the harbour bridge to the Rocks area. Did some souvenir shopping (well, Mom and Lynne did), then caught a ferry to Darling Harbour. We walked around there, did some serious shopping (more Mom and Lynne.....)then headed to a fancy Italian restaurant overlooking the harbor.

Actually, I did a teeny bit of shopping--I bought a didgeridoo to add to my travel collection. Ethan and I are decorating our living room with things from our travels together--we have a fancy hand carved cane from Jamaica with our wedding date and names engraved on it, sand from Lake Tahoe, a set of glasses with a hand painted juice jug from Puerto Vallarta, etc, etc, etc. We always try to bring something back with us, even if it is just a cool shot glass (which I also bought in Sydney). So. I got a cool didgeridoo with an aboriginal design on it and handpainted birds. Pretty, and I like the colors.

Back to that Italian restaurant. Very fancy with wonderful food. We shared a bottle of wine and enjoyed our last evening together. Afterwards, we walked across the pedestrian bridge crossing the harbor and caught a ferry over to Luna Park, which is just next to the north side of the Harbour Bridge. From there, we walked back to our hotel.

The next morning, we had a leisurely breakfast at our bed-and-breakfast, then caught our shuttle to the airport. Mom and Lynne did MORE shopping, then separated for our flights home.

Vacation is fun, but coming home sucks.

I had the worlds most irritating woman sit next to me on the plane home. She didn't speak English, so she kept trying to give me her customs declaration form to fill out, saying 'no english, no english'. Since I don't know if she has had contact with farm animals or her home address or how much cash she is carrying, I declined. Then she was leaning over me to open and close the window shade. I am in the window seat. That is MY window! Then she was sleeping on me and crowding me and being very irritating.

Anyway.

I landed and all was well. I flew from Sydney with Pat, mom's friend's husband. He is an executive VP of a company in Portland and has boardroom passes for United Airlines. Mom and Lynne were on Qantas, so Pat and I ditched them in the Sydney airport for the comforts of the boardroom. Very nice. Sandwich fixings, juices, fruits, snacks, a full self-serve bar and laptop area. I did some photo editing on my laptop while waiting and passed the time nicely.

Once home, I got my bags and Ethan drove me home. I was feeling fine, so we went out for dinner and drinks at McCoy's, our favorite hangout.

I cannot sleep. I am now on "normal" time, but I lie in bed and do not sleep. It sucks. I am buying Benadryl tonight......

I took over 1200 pictures on this trip. I am in the very slow process of editing them all. All. ALL. I will start putting some up for view once I get them prettied up. Stay tuned...