Milton

(Still) 34 days left of school!

The chocolate peanut butter cake I made in the crockpot didn't go as planned. The edges and bottom burned, filling the house with the smell of burning chocolate (not yum) yet the middle never solidified. It was gooey and pudding like. I didn't follow the recipe exactly, so it was definitely my fault. I used melted dark chocolate as opposed to cocoa powder. The inside did taste really good, though, so instead of tossing it, I put the inside of the "cake" into a cuisinart dish and put it in the fridge. Then I soaked the crockpot ceramic for a long time since that cake edge was really, really glued to it. I took the inners to the party and heated it in the oven, then topped it with vanilla ice cream. It was a hit! Yay for quick thinking. I couldn't enter my dish in the contest Chris held since it didn't actually come to her place in a crockpot, but I didn't care. Josh, on the other hand, said, "I wish I'd known it was a contest! I would have made something!" Josh has really become the cook in our household. I'm really impressed with how well he cooks and how he dresses up the dish he makes! It always comes out on the plate like it would at a fancy restaurant. I tell him he should take cooking classes. He used to be such a fervent artist, I honestly think cooking serves as a great creative outlet for him.

How do you wear flip flops without your feet looking homeless at the end of the day? Today was gorgeous. Josh invited me to go down to Milton for his gear fitting at the Fire Department. I didn't really want to get up early, but I knew he wanted me to see the station. Milton is just south of Federal Way and it's a small town. I don't think it's cute at all, but Josh reassured me we didn't have to live there for him to be on the department. I met the other new recruit when we were there, a guy who just got laid off from his department in South Pierce. Departments are laying off all over the place, which is suprising to me, but then I realize the same thing is happening in school districts. If we don't need teachers to educate our youth, why would we need people to respond to medical emergencies and burning homes? Totally makes sense to cut jobs in those two fields, right?! Hrm. It turned out all the guys were out doing drills when we got there, so they asked us to come back. The other new recruit and his girlfriend and dog joined us at the park nearby and we let the pups chase the ball for a while. Then, to kill some more time, we went to the SuperMall so I could return something at Old Navy. Halfway there, I started having an allergy attack. It got so bad by the time we got to the mall that I wanted to tear the skin off of my face. I couldn't handle it. It was so horrible. I haven't felt like that in a long time. I went straight into the bathroom and rinsed my face with cold water. My eyes and nose were so red. I came back out and Josh looked worried when he saw me. I told him I just wanted to go back to Milton and get his stuff and go home. When we got in the car we put up all the windows and turned on the A/C so I wouldn't have to deal with whatever was making me feel so miserable. On our way there, the Lt. called and told Josh that they were going to lunch and could he just come back in half an hour. He told her we were almost there, but she said she'd just give him his paperwork and he could do his gear fitting another day. I thought that was so inconsiderate. Josh was really good-natured about it, but I felt it was rude of them since we had already once been told we needed to wait around. In retrospect, I think I was just in a bad mood because of my allergies. Stupid growing things.

I started feeling tons better by the time we got back to the station so we decided to have lunch at Jimmy Mac's Roadhouse in Renton. I hadn't been there in years, but they still have the "Creek Chub Bait Co. Garrett, IN" sign up in one of the booths. I took a picture of it, since I had my camera in my purse. The first time I saw it, I thought it was so great. Garrett is just North of where my parents live in Indiana and I dated a guy from there years ago. To see that in a restaurant in Renton, WA is kind of a trip. After lunch and the drive back into the city, we decided to go visit South Lake Union Park since yesterday was the start of boating season and we thought we might see a few extra ships docked there. I took lots of pictures of the Virginia V, a steamship I have often thought I'd like to have a party on. It's beautiful, with all the charm preserved that it had in the 20's. I also discovered that MOHAI is moving to the old Naval Reserve building there in 2011. The park plans look really beautiful and I'm excited to see what that area will look like when they finish it.

After such a long day and my added exhaustion from my allergy attack, I thought I'd be glad to get home. When we did, though, I actually got right back into the car and went to Fred Meyer to get some things I needed for school. They didn't have them, but I probably spent a good hour just looking around at everything. It is very calming to me to look at things in stores by myself. Bookstores, home decor stores, TARGET, and apparently Fred Meyer are all places that serve the purpose. I hate being rushed unless I'm on a mission, so it's nice to go to these places alone when I'm not crunched for time. I managed to find things there, of course, so it wasn't a cheap therapy, but I think there's a lot to be said for retail therapy in itself.

Now some LOST, popcorn and snuggles before bed. I don't want to go to school tomorrow. I wish I had 34 sick days I could use. Wah.