"Never jump into a pile of leaves with a wet sucker."

-The Great Pumpkin

Work was soooo slow today. I don't seen I've ever seen the store have so few customers. But it was fun, because my coworkers are insane and crazy and that always makes for some good times. I should've taken pictures of everybody, but I was too lazy. So I only got a few pictures. I was a salt-shaker. I know, lots of girls use Halloween as a time to get all primped up in cute sexy costumes, but no sir, not me. I'm a salt-shaker kind of gal. Plus, the costume was so huge on me that it kind of felt like I was wearing a blanket all day. And I like blankets.
I went to Ben and Kai's after work and ate yummy food and watched The Great Pumpkin. Once again, I was too lazy to use my camera. So there are no Ben and Kai pictures. Sorries.

I've been up since 2:30 AM. I had madcrazy insomnia last night. I remembered hearing that warm milk helps people sleep, but I was afraid that I would make it too hot, so I drank a glass of cold milk instead, which ended up making me feel sick to my stomach, which only contributed to the fact that I couldn't sleep.

Speaking of sleep... good night.

"Isn't life a funny climb... you try and try, you do your best to understand, just do the best you can."

-Kate Powers and Steve Einhorn

For those of you who don't know, today is the Celtic New Year, and for the first time, I really am feeling it in my blood. It has been a long, hard year for me and for many of the people in my life. Hopefully these tough times will pass, but until they do, I'm doing my best to send out good energy and love to all of you. Life's twists and turns are always unexpected, but hopefully they will make us stronger and remind us of how lucky we all are to have eachother. Much love, and Good Samhain to all.

When the mountain touches the valley,
all the clouds are taught to fly
as our souls will leave this land
most peacefully
Though our minds be filled with questions,
in our hearts we'll understand
when the river meets the sea.

Like a flower that has blossomed
in the dry and barren sand,
We are born and born again
most gracefully,
Thus the winds of time will take us
with a sure and steady hand
When the river meets the sea.

Like a baby when it is sleeping
in its loving mother's arms,
what a newborn baby dreams
is a mystery
But his life will find a purpose
and in time he'll understand
When the river meets the sea.
-John Denver
(That song goes out to my Mom. Love you, mommy-face)

"True, it may seem like a stretch, but it's thoughts like this that ease my troubled head when you're away, when I am missing you to death..."

-Iron and Wine

"Just like that, life comes in. And things begin to change."

-Sex and the City

At 3 AM yesterday morning, (the 23rd), Amber started having contractions. I got off of work early today and met Amber, Adam, and Amber's mom at the hospital. Also there was Alyson, who is Amber's Doula. I met up with them in the cafeteria, and then the five of us walked around the hospital, because Amber said that it felt good to walk. Her contractions were coming quite often, but they were mild compared to what came later.
Then we went back to the Delivery Wing, and I waited in the lobby with Adam and his mom while they moved Amber to her own room. Then we all went in Amber's room and waited for Nacho.
Amber FINALLY gave birth, right around 4:45 AM this morning. For those of you who did the math, you'll realize that meant that this went on for OVER 25 hours. To hold up Amber's back when she pushed and to be able to watch this baby be born... it was amazing. I'm not even going to try to write about it, because any words that I have to write will just diminish the experience.

Welcome.

"I heard a song on the radio just yesterday, the same one you always asked me to play, and when the song was over I wished they'd play it again..."

-Garth Brooks, Every Now and Then

I'm pretty much always taking pictures in my head and wishing that I had my camera with me. So today, I took alot of pictures. Well I guess technically that was yesterday, since it is going to be 4 AM soon. Whatever.

I slept for 10 hours last night. not sure why, because I didn't know I was that tired. But yeah... I woke up and listened to Celtic music and did cross-stitch and thought about lots of stuff.
Then I walked to work. I pass alot of walls on my way that have graffiti on them, and most of them don't really catch my eye, but these two always do:
And look, here is my old home:
And here is the few pictures I took while I was walking through the International District. Normally I would've taken more, but I stopped at a produce stand to buy an apple, and then my hands were too sticky to use my camera, and it took me a while to find a water fountain. Sorry.
Here are my train tracks that I love so much:
And here is a picture that I took of a little cafe that has a man-made waterfall. Normally that would annoy me, but as a Seattle gal, I'll take whatever waterfalls I can get.
And here is Pioneer Square:

And here is the Waterfront:
And here is the city at night:And oh yeah... happy birthday to me.

"Curse at the wind storms that October brings..."

-Barenaked Ladies

Nacho should be making his appearance any day now, so we're all just waiting and waiting. Amber picked me up at work today and we went and got Chinese food at a place in the International District that we used to go to all the time when we were living together. We did it just like we used to, we both went in and decided on an order, then Amber waited in the car so it didn't get towed, and I sat on the bench and waited for them to bring out our food. It made me feel a bit nastalgic, which I try not to let happen, because these days that can be dangerous, but seriously, sometimes I really miss this time of my life:
After we got our food, we headed back to my place and chatted with Kat, and then Rebecca arrived shortly after. We all ate the yummy food, and Rebecca brought presents for Amber and Nacho.

The four of us watched The Great Pumpkin and America's Next Top Model and LOST. Then Kat went to sleep and Rebecca and Amber and I talked about some very, um, interesting things. The mood got very strange, and then Amber was saying how much she wishes Nacho would decide that he is ready to come out, and then Rebecca tried to help Amber. Um... I have a picture of Rebecca trying to help.
I knew I shouldn't have included that plastic knife in her fudge... oh well. Live and learn.

"Without warning I feel this brewing in my head, it's like a storm, I feel this restlessness, I think of you and stormy weather..."

-Kate and Steve

Dad and the Zachlet were in town today, because dad was teaching a class at Shoreline. So I left my place this morning to go meet Scotty and Zachary at the Seattle Center. I was a little late, due to my intolerance of the human race. Long story short, I was on the bus to the Seattle Center, and the guys on the bus were annoying me so much that I decided to get off the bus early and walk eight blocks. They weren't speaking about me or to me, but they were drunk, and it was noon, and that was enough to make me get off the bus, even though it was pouring down rain outside. I was soaked by the time I got to the Seattle Center, but I didn't care. It actually felt really good to walk in the rain. I met up with Scott and Zach and we sat around the food court for awhile.
Zach didn't have a coat with him, so we waited until it stopped raining and then the three of us walked downtown. I love this weather. It's rainy and cloudy and the air smells so good. It was a great day to be walking around.
We eventually ended up down at the Public Market and went to a cute little ice cream/fudge/coffee shop. We sat there for about an hour, killing time and being silly. (oh, and ps, my fudge is better than their fudge. Is it bad for me to say that? Oh well, I said it anyways).
After that, we wandered around the market. Scott and Zach had lots of fun with an old game that they found, even though it didn't officially work... but they had fun anyways, and that's what matters.
Next, we headed down to the waterfront and went to Starbucks. Dad was scheduled to be meeting with us soon to have dinner at The Red Robin, and since Starbucks is part of the same building, we figured that would be a practical place to meet. So we went to Starbucks, and we waited.
And waited...
And waited...
And waited...
And waited...
And waited...

And then, you'll never guess what happened next... Dad finally showed up!
Then the four of us went to Red Robin and met up with Rebecca-noodle-noggin-nose and we ate lots of yummy food.
After dinner we all walked out to the parking lot together so Zach could get his stuff out of Rebecca's car. Then we all said our good-byes, and Dad and Zachary headed back home.
All in all, a fun day, even though I was only going on four hours of sleep, since I woke up six times through out the night last night. Tomorrow I'm going to hang out with Emily, and then I'm going to go hang out with Gina-face.

And on a very random note, this painting rocks my world: