Pretty busy week. We ate at Mashiko in West Seattle this week on the recomendation of Mitch. Pretty good vegan options, the best sushi options I think we’ve seen so far. We went back to the indian restaurant in Bellevue across from Strategy the other night, we haven’t been there for a while. I think it’s called the Taj Palace or something, the owner is super nice. Last night we went out for sushi somewhere on 45th with friends. Had something there called a Bento Box which was really impressive. I think it was Kozue. Tonight we went out to the new Teapot location up the street on 15th. The new location is nice, but somehow we managed to find the same loud atmosphere I’ve been hating for a week. Just lots of loud people out lately I guess.

We’re going hiking with friends tomorrow, I’m looking forward to that a great deal. Maybe we’ll get to go by Pig’s Peace too.

I heard Maria talking on the telephone about it almost being Spring. It’s surprisingly cold here today, about 42 according to our back window thermometer, sitting trying to be usefull until the we’re off on another road trip, really needing it to decide how late to stay in the sleeping bag.

Maria had the flu this week, which made it really hectic. She had a fever Monday and Tuesday and could start really moving around again by Wednesday. We started cooking meals for one of her coworkers this week so Maria can try some more experimental recipies on someone with a more discerning palate than mine, so that kept things hectic as well!

I took two minutes to open up the case of my SFF box today, the fan on the new video card (since the cola lan accident) seems to not enjoy collecting dust. I guess I need to take care of that more often, but the pile of dishes in the kitchen that have been there all week cry for attention. Really working and commuting takes up so much time now. I’m up by 6, get to work between 7 and 8, and don’t get home until 4 on short days (or 8, on long days) and then stare at the pile of dishes and the litter box. This week, there’s been a lot of just going to bed.

We got up early this morning because I wanted to pop into the office to make sure the labs were going to be ready for a class today. Afterwards we went over to Globe for the first time in a while and picked up way too much food, as usual, but brought home a nice box of home fries to pick at over the next few days. With so much cooking recently, the fridge is full of leftovers. It’s the first time I’ve made lasanga that hasn’t dissapeared within three days.

We’re planning on going to the anti-war march today at 1pm, but it’s so cold and we’re so worn out we’ll see how far we get. I really need to get more exercise, I haven’t been for a few weeks and I can feel the fatigue building up again. It’s really weird feeling the motiviation changes that come with getting enough exercise. I’ve been really dismal this week and I’m sure it’s just because I’ve been sleeping too much. Chicken or the egg and all that.

I haven’t gotten any material up on the blog yet. I was thinking about doing it this weekend if I had time, but I actually ended up getting my boss, Mitch, to rant in front of one of the cameras we use for recording classes so I can transcribe an interview to the company blog, because he has so little time to sit down and write something up. He was in the office this week, and this morning when Maria and I stopped in this morning. We chatted about everything, but it’s been interesting mostly talking about health and nutrition. I picked up a copy of the food revolution for him recently, after he kept asking me how to solve world hunger. He was moved by the factual information. It’s fueled a bit of conversation since, as he and his wife have been been vegan for a week or two now.

Anyways, I’ve gotten distracted by conversations, how strange, familiar feelings from years past? Enjoy the third anniversary of the invasion.

Maria and I took a trip up north to the Pigs Peace Sanctuary today. We took 25lbs of carrots up with us, recommended by the flyer we pick up now and then at Madison Market, our super awesome neighborhood coop here on Capitol Hill. It seemed like a lot, but it went fast! Their website recommends bringing four 25lb bags of carrots to feed all the pigs. When we got there, we wandered around the farm for a while before we figured out who was in charge and asked what to do. Judy gave us a quick tour and upon bringing our carrots she took us into the “California” pigs pen. She threw a few carrots and then called the rest of the pigs and left us with them. It was amazing, around fifty pigs slowly trotted in from the fields to get carrots. We threw out all 25 pounds in a few minutes and sat, watching all the pigs around us, admiring the strange sheep and the horses as well. After a little while another pig came running up to us, but I couldn’t tell what it was at all as it came fast. It turned out to be a larger calico pig, who after wandering around us a bit proceeded to act just like a dog, but more friendly! It came up to us and rubbed against us, laying down on Maria’s feet looking for a belly rub. We must of scratched it for twenty minutes for wandering down into the field to look around a little more. The pig followed us and oinked as we walked away, squealing as we got further away until we’d stop, let it catch up, and pet it more.

Eventually we lost it and went back to look around the farm some more. Judy explained the situations with their recently burned educational center as we offered volunteer help. As usually they need help on the weekdays which is hard for us, being so far away, but they can always use help so we’ll probably try to go up on a couple Sundays to help out. They’re going to need help rebuilding the educational center after they get done with the red tape of insurance. She also mentioned that Side Car for Pigs Peace, a Vegan shop up in the University District that we’ve been to a few times, is having a hard time finding volunteers, so maybe we can help out there.

Yesterday we went to VegFest with Betsie and Alan, so it’s been a very vegan weekend. Unfortunately most of the good vegan wares we were already aware of and there wasn’t any labeling policy so we had to go and examine the ingredients at every table but it was nice to see some familiar vendors and get some free Ice Cream.

After Veg Fest we went out to a movie and wandered around Capitol Hill for while. It was very nice taking the bus around and hanging out in the park near Seattle Central. It’s great being in a diverse, accepting city, where there’s always something to do and the weather is almost always good enough to go out and do something. Seriously. Move to Seattle.

I’m testing out blogger, thinking about using it at my new job. I’m working at Strategy Computers, a training company that does the usual cross-selling and promotion but excels in the training, having been around here for 18 years. We provide mostly certification training but do everything from teaching people how to type through corporate training on Exchange and the likes. Lots of A+, Network+, CCNA, MCSE training though, as well as the programming tracks like MCSD, custom software testing and game testing programs (popular, being around Nintendo and all that). So I’m really busy lately. Maria and I are settled in Seattle, on Capitol Hill. We went to Chop Suey a couple nights ago with friends, which was fun although the lineup got ignored. It’s only a block away, because we’re in such a crazy neighborhood. Plus there’s places like Globe and Teapot right around the corner which are really, really good, although we cook at least 90% of our own food lately. I’ll try to communicate regularly, but like I said, busy…