The One with All Over the Place

So much has happened since yesterday! I hail from Redmond, WA at the present.

Yesterday after work I came home, finished packing, and we headed for the LAX airport at 6:45pm for my 8:45pm flight because I figured there wouldn't be any traffic and I'd have plenty of time to get through security and find my gate. "I figured there wouldn't be any traffic." Haha. That's the LAST time I "figure there won't be any traffic." There is ALWAYS traffic in LA. Note to self about that. But somehow we still got to the airport in plenty of time. I retrieved my boarding pass, didn't check any bags (cuz Alaskan charges to check bags, that's why I heart Southwest, but Southwest doesn't have direct flights from LAX to Seattle for some reason and I need the shortest flight possible for my sanity. So Southwest, get on that!), then I passed through security with flying colors and found my gate which wasn't hard, it was the very first one on the left. It was 8 o'clock at this point and I noticed my plane was already there and passengers were unloading. Sweet! Shortly thereafter we boarded the plane and got all settled by 8:15pm for the 8:45 scheduled departure time. One of the flight attendants announced that we should be able to take off shortly, just waiting on some paperwork, and to turn off all electronic devices at that point. 8:30 rolls around and again a flight attendant announced we should be able to take off shortly, just waiting on some paperwork. 8:45 rolls around and a flight attendant announces that the plane is having electrical issues (just what a plane-phobified person wants to hear!) and it'll be awhile before we get to take off. Bah. Out came the electrical devices. I don't really understand what was wrong with the plane, alls I know is they turned off all the lights at one point which was sorta freaky, and then they had to start the engines all weird, again, sorta freaky, but we eventually took off a little over an hour after the originally scheduled departure time. And I thought we were gonna get out of there early :) The flight was a dark and bumpy one - not my favorite. Luckily I had That's So Raven on my iPod to keep me distracted. 5.5 episodes later we landed safely in Seattle. My Malm and Dald were there, barely awake, to greet me at 1am.

This is a picture of the airplane wing and if you look into the light you can faintly see the rain (welcome to Washington!) hitting the plane at 400-some-odd miles per hour.

It's so great to be home. I woke up to grey skies and a curtain of mist pattering gently against my windows. Bliss. I'm not even being sarcastic!

I couldn't pass up the opportunity this morning to take a couple pictures of my cat Tip-Toe. I got her in 1994. Hey, I just realized her 15th birthday is tomorrow! Well whatdoyaknow!?! Tip-Toe has been around for a long time - as long as my 16 year old sister can even remember! And she still acts young and spry! Here's to 15 more years Tip-Toe!

I haven't been home for Halloween since 2002. Apparently over the years my mom has acquired a bounteous collection of Halloween paraphernalia because everywhere I turn I see something spooky. I love it! These are some pictures of her little haunted village. It lights up and makes scary noises and everything. I want one.

The cute front porch (with my sign to the UPS driver today to leave my expected puppy carrier package on the bench).

One thing I'm missing about living in Utah at this point in the year is a genuine fall with the changing colors of leaves. Fall is in full swing here so I spent a little time outside documenting Redmond in October.

It was chilly today. I wore five layers to keep warm. I was nice and toasty.

My meeting with the Shiba Inu breeder wasn't until 1:30pm so Malm, Allie, and I curled up on the couch and watched the first two of four hours of the made for TV movie Rose Red by Stephen King. It's a classic.

Finally the blessed hour arrived and we drove the short mile to the breeders. I still can't believe she lives so close to "my" house! We pulled up to driveway and were greeted by these massive dawgs.

There are Shiba's galore, as there should be at a breeder's place. This is a beautiful, full-grown, red colored Shiba. This is what our Joey will look like in a few months. I think he's just gorgeous.

FINALLY I got to meet our little Joey. He's so much cuter in real life than any pictures will do justice. I loved snuggling him and getting to know his personality.

His likeness to a cougar cub is uncanny! Are we getting a dog or a cat?

I've got another appointment tomorrow to see how to bathe him, sign all the paperwork, and fork over the cash. Getting a puppy is no joke! But I couldn't be more excited :)

Back at home Allie and I got ready to paint the town. Everything I'm wearing sans my pants and shoes is Allie's. Hey, why pack my own clothes when I can raid her awesome wardrobe?

We perused Redmond Towne Centre for a bit then met up with the 'rents at Outback Steakhouse in Kirkland. I got me some yummy fillet.

Looking forward to tomorrow which will consist of seeing Joey, attending a Halloween partay at Google, attending a Halloween partay at a family friend's house, and more!

Aaaand, don't forget to check out my 500th post giveaway a few posts down. Just over 48 hours until I pick the winner!