Underground Seattle

I sit here in utter disbelief that it is the middle of April. The lack of school semester craziness and never-ending projects seems to make time move that much more quickly, and if I had to think of a way to summarize April thus far it would be: family! As hinted at the end of the last blog, Dereck's mom and sister came April 1st and spent a long weekend with us in the NW. Besides the fact that it was awesome to see them, it also gave Dereck and I that final kick to get some things done around the house that we had put off since throwing out the last moving boxes. This included putting pictures in photo frames and buying curtains for 90% of the house. In fact, the night before Marcie and Lesli came in, I spent hours ironing curtains while Dereck hung rods and drilled screws into our lovely Army-white walls. Simply ironing the curtains really came to solidify the fact that I hate ironing. There- I said it. I hate ironing with a fiery passion. Curtains are especially evil because they have these creases in them from packaging that must be older than time itself. No amount of work and steam is going to get those creases out, and at a critical mass point late in the night, Dereck and I said "to heck with it," and proceeded to hang wrinkly curtains all around the house. I also got some quality time cleaning those weird spaces in a home that never seem to bother you until someone is coming to visit. That red towel lint around the shower door has gone months without any concern from the Kennedys, but I would be a liar if I said I didn't Swiffer that stupid door until every piece of lint was gone. To mark the momentous cleaning of the house I even took pictures as proof that at one beautiful moment in time the house was sparkling clean, and it was a glorious twenty seconds until Dereck walked in with his Army magnet-to-dirt boots.

Having Marcie and Lesli visit was a great excuse to finally get out and see some of the museums and sights that I have been putting off simply because I was thought to myself, "I can't go there yet. I need to take visitors!" So, on Friday morning we loaded up and went to the Tacoma Glass Museum. Tacoma is world famous for its glass productions, and I have to admit that I underestimated how cool a glass museum could be. My favorite exhibit is a portion called Kid Works where kids draw all types of fanciful creatures and one gets chosen every month to actually be made in glass. The sketches hang next to the creations, and the kids think of the craziest things, like a "handyman" made of hands, or a coyote wearing rainbow socks (simply because the kid said he likes to think of the coyotes near his house prancing about in socks, and rainbow socks no less). Tacoma Glass also has what's called a Hot Studio where artists create glass pieces throughout the day while visitors sit in theatre-style seating and stare at them. I couldn't help but wonder if they felt like monkeys being watched at a zoo, and very skilled monkeys at that. We wrapped up the museum by visiting the overpriced gift store and staring at glass baubles while school kids ran around trying to find the cheapest piece of junk to take home and promptly lose. After that, we headed to lunch at Cheesecake Factory (gotta love having parents visit!) and then went shopping to find Lesli a dress for her military ball. The impressive thing about the dress shopping is that we found the perfect dress in record time- maybe I should shop with these girls more often. The downside to shopping? Evil I-5 Friday traffic. I never cease to be amazed by how this interstate can have traffic 24/7, and to make matters worse I was driving Dereck's truck which feels like a monster compared to my little Civic, and did I mention it was raining like crazy? After all the hustle of the morning, lunch, and shopping, we rounded out the night making soup at the house and watching tv to prepare for Saturday's adventure.

Saturday we made a huge breakfast and then piled in the car to go to Bremerton and catch the ferry to Seattle. This is the same route we did on my birthday, and I enjoyed it just as much as the first time, even if it was twenty degrees colder. We girls were all decked out in my random winter layers, and being from Alabama points out the irony that I even own any. But despite the chill and freezing rain we stood on the deck and watched the skyline move from epic evergreens to giant houses and then the Seattle harbor, all the while drinking our Starbucks coffee and letting the warmth and espresso make us excited for the day. Our first stop was the Underground Tour as recommended by my friend Scarlett. Much to my surprise, the history of Seattle involves several rounds of sinking, filling in with sawmill dust, and then sinking again. What do I really remember about Seattle history? That it was one of the first cities to receive a Crapper Toilet from London- call it selective memory. The underground comes from the fact that the city had a massive fire, rebuilt, and then built new roads more than 5 feet above the previous level, thereby creating an underground world around buildings at the old street level. It even remained open until a serious of plagues shut down the area, and it then promptly became a playground of drug addicts and gamblers in prohibition times. It was one of the best city tours I have ever been on, and I would go again in a heartbeat! After the tour, we walked up to the market and grabbed a quick lunch. Lesli and I ate monster crepes, but the best part is that this guy came and sat next to Lesli the whole time we were there. I could tell he wanted to talk so bad, and I thought that he might have eventually had stinky Dereck not come in. We even have a photo of us and our monster crepes with him smiling at the camera in the background- he just never had the guts with Dereck scowling at him. We then proceeded to wander the market for a good while, and finally got into the truck and drove into the mountains to see Snoqualmie Falls. Apparently while we got all the nasty rain the mountains had been getting powder-perfect snow, and we took advantage of this by stopping and jumping in it, and of course catching it on our tongues. I hope I never get too old to stop and let snow fall on my tongue. And the falls were awesome! I had only heard of them from friends, and so never really knew what to expect, along with a fear that they might be a tiny trickle making me look like a fool. Suffice it to say the falls are huge and spectacular, thank goodness!

The next morning we waved goodbye to Marcie and Lesli and promptly came home for a huge nap. Between me getting ready for guests and Dereck having a full work week, we were two tired kids. Last week however had no rest for the weary as I packed to go home for Lydia's wedding. There is nothing like packing to make you realize how much you need to wash clothes, and so I tried to pack, run errands, and finish all my chores in two short days before flying home Wednesday morning. I don't think I comprehended the distance between myself and Alabama until I flew 5 hours to Atlanta and then another home. At this rate I could have been two hours short of making it to Germany from Atlanta! I was so happy to see my mom and feel the wall of warm air hit me. Gone was the rain and 40 degree weather of Lewis and in front of me was sunshine and flip-flop weather. I spent Thursday running errands I needed to get finished at home, like cutting 3 inches off the nest I like to call my hair and finally getting all the wedding pictures chosen for an album with the photographer. It was weird to be home after not seeing it for four months, and it was weird how quickly it became familiar to me. I am happy to report that Madison is still looking the same, and my pirate Beagle is still kicking, although we now like to call her Methuselah since my mom fears she will never die (Brooklyn is about to hit 14).

Friday came around quickly enough, and I found myself driving to wedding festivities for Lydia, one of my best friends from home. However in order to give the weekend the full amount of space it needs for proper blogging, this one will have to roll to an end. I would hate to try and squeeze it all in only to leave you the reader with an entire novella. And to that end, I shall bid adieu and head out to coach 9-11 year olds in track. Now all I need is a really loud whistle.