Yes, I'm still alive!

September has really been a whirlwind -- I can't believe it's almost gone. Paul and I took a vacation smack dab in the middle of the month, and it seemed like we were gone for ages. We were actually only gone for eight days, but that's a long time away for us.

Anyway, first we went to Washington DC (well Fairfax, Virginia actually) to visit Paul's daughter Anne. She's moved there to pursue her nursing and to be closer to her boyfriend, John. It was a walking vacation, let me tell you. They have a great transit system, so we just hopped on a bus or a train, and then just walked, walked, walked. Paul's got the pictures on his computer. I'll add them eventually.

Next we were off to Minneapolis for a tile conference I was attending. The conference was fabulous, and I was surprised to see how well represented Washington State was. One of our instructors, Carol Rose Dean, lives on Vashon, and there were five other students from Western Washington. While I was in class Paul spent time with his brother Tom and family. Tom is the environmental writer for The Star Tribune, and had just returned from an assignment on the Isle Royal. Tom's wife Anne Landreman is an artist who also teaches art at Diamond Path Elementary, a school of international studies. They were great hosts, and we had lots of fun.

So we're happy to be home. I'm working on a project for the City of Tacoma, tile inserts for a concrete bulb-out on 6th Avenue. The project has been on hold for two years, but hopefully will go through this time. The construction portion is going out to bid this week so fingers crossed!

The Tacoma SIT IN

On a beautiful sunny thursday afternoon I along with approximately 40 others decended onto Tollefson Plaza at the request of Lance Kagey for a "flash mob" art project. You can read about the particulars here and here. Hope you enjoy the photos!

My chair and the finished result:

Lynn arrives ready for business!

The "Mob"

And The Results:

I heart my Dentist!

One of the perks being married to Paul is his wonderful dentist, Dr. Giesy. He's young (er than me!), accomplished (has won several awards, and also lectures around the country) and he puts up with my general fear and hatred of all things dental. In fact, it kind of amuses him. I'm just back from my twice yearly cleaning of my pearly yellows, and we had our usual chuckle over my desire to replace these sad old teeth with some snow white dentures. I guess after ten years I should just give up the fight.

So as I leave I stop to chat with Sherri and Sandy, make my next appointment, and Sherri hands me my reminder card (which I always lose) and says here's a little something for you from us to show you how much we enjoy you and your family. Now how sweet is that? Click here for contact info if you're looking for a really good dentist.

BJs Restaurant and Brewery

It was the brewery part that got my attention. I'm always on the lookout for breweries to take Paul, and there are plenty of them around here. BJs is beautifully decorated, and very comfortable with black leather(ette) seating, dark woods, granite, and slate. And they have a lot of employees circling around. There's the person who greets you, the person who seats you, the person who tells you your server will be with you shortly. Your server takes your order and you don't see her until she drops off the check. There's one person to drop off your food, and another person to take your plates away. Personally I'm always kind of exhausted when I leave a place like that.

The food was okay, not great, not good, just okay. Paul wasn't very impressed with their beer. He likes a hoppy beer, but didn't think their IPA was very good. He had a taster and said they pretty much all tasted the same. Maybe it's the Belgium style of brewing that he's not fond of, who knows? Anyway, happy hour appetizer, hamburger for me, giant chili baked potato for him, and our drinks came out to a smidge over $51.

I think we should have gone to the Hub.