Workin gals... and the rules

Our weekend was less than thrilling -- 36 hours in 3 days at the hospital. I honestly wish HIPAA didn't exist and I could tell some HILARIOUS stories that patients did, said or asked. But unfortunately, I don't want the 150,000 dollar fine. So, instead I will tell you the new rules of the house. Yup...Tara and I have been living together for 3 weeks now and we have created some unwritten rules to the apartment. Here they are....

1. Get up on time

This pertains mostly to me (Char) and if you know me...you know it's true. Tara opens my bedroom door like it's a lion's cage.

2. Sharin' is Carin'

We alternate who cooks dinner.

3. Don't ignore eachother when you're on the phone.

I'm guilty as charged.

4. Don't post on blog until Tara reads it and approves.

I really wish she would have let me leave that story on...

5. No cat stealing

Tara misses her cat, and I see her eye'in up that little grey fur ball around here.

6. Help with the pole.

If you look below in the pic of the TV, you will see that our parking spot is RiGHT next to a huge pole that we have heard of people hitting, I'm the right-side-mirror-watcher.

7. No ice chewing.

EVER.

8. When the sun is out....so are we.

Suns out guns out.

9. Shut the laundry doors.

10. No garbage is ever to be left in Tara's car.

Again...guilty as charged.

Well I suppose that's a good top 10 list for now. I'm sure we'll find more as we live together longer. We miss you all like crazy but wanted to let you all know we're doing good. Back to work tonight (AGAIN) then a couple days off. This weekend will I'm sure produce a good blog posting...shield the kids eyes :-) MISS YOU!

Catchin' up.

What a week it has been! Sorry we haven't been writing but we've been ultra busy! This week was started off with the best part about fall...football season! In case you've been in living in a dark hole in Guam, the Packers played the dreaded Queens opening Monday night football. We showed Seattle what fans are like and the NFL what Rodgers could do. But we were both very nervous for Rodgers having to prove to the world of football that he can live in the shadow of legend Favre (Eric, I can see you rolling your eyes...) and we are proud to report he did great! So we celebrated... a lot. But, unfortuntately the game started at 4pm giving us extra time to celebrate and too much time to drink!

We started off at Rocksport watching the game on a huge bigscreen TV. I'm sure they thought we were crazy!

Then things started to get messy ;-)

Representin'

There wasn't a stage so I improvised

Making Lombardi proud...

Tuesday we had to work and so we were going to lay low. Tara absolutely LOVES to watch movies and our friend Dylan was going to borrow us his extra TV for the few months that we're here. So we picked it up from him and then started to carry it up the stairs. So here is how this went:

Tara supported the top of the TV getting it out of the car and asks me to support the base...my face was in her ass. Then we set it down (more like gently dropped). Then we picked it up ... and started laughing and gently dropped it again. Multiply this by 20 times and we barely made it out of the car garage. By this time, the groundskeeper saw us laughing and complaining about how bad our stomachs hurt with a huge TV sitting on the floor. He offered, we accepted and thank God that we're women because he carried it the rest of the way.

This beatch is heavy!

Yesterday we took a nap after work and then got up in time to catch some sun and go to dinner. There was this big chinese place down by Lake Union so we thought we would check that out. We sat down and the waiter gave us our soup. Tara asks where the spoon was, not realizing what a chinese spoon is, see below :-) Then a table of guys sit down next to us, not wearing shoes, see below :-) Weird!

Apparently, its no shirt no service...but shoes are optional ;-)

THE SPOON!

The food was horrible and I insisted that we cleanse our palate with a beer. (I know how this sounds). So we went to Jillians and had a beer on the lower level then the bartender told us to go upstairs and meet Tommy. Tommy was h-i-l-a-r-i-o-u-s! He was very nice to us and made us be adventurous and to top it off, there was karaoke and I've been craving karaoke. We sang: No one else on earth, Love Shack, Let's Give 'Em Something to Talk About, and finally Jackson by Johney Cash (Tara was the guy part). We sang at the top of our lungs, I didn't even have to look at the screen because I knew all the words to those songs and it was the best random time I've had in a long time. At the end of the night, we asked for our bill and it was a whopping $27. Tommy is our new best friend.

Tone deaf and drunkness are not a good combination :-)

Bad Luck

Ok...that's it, we're coming home. Someone has put a curse on Tara! This woman has the worst luck of anyone I have ever met in my life. We have now worked a full week at the hospital and we were pumped for our first paycheck in a month (we quit our jobs early!). But, Tara called the payroll department as they have lost her information about a half a dozen times. And of course, they did again and had no idea she even existed. So thankfully they wired money into her account until it was set up. Great, problem fixed.

So then I get my insurance card today. Tara doesn't have hers, we're not even sure she has insurance.

Then today we went to Alki beach (check out the pics below!) and stopped for a good ol' Wisconsin brat and Tara went to get money out of the ATM machine. She gets charged those dang ATM fees a lot, so she takes out more than she needs at one time. She took out $140.... and only got $20. We need serious prayers for this woman! I'm hoping it doesn't start rubbing off on me!

We are, however, safe and sound. Our job is going just fine and we work the same exact nights together but we do go to different nursing units while we're working. It's the most time we have spent apart yet! haha!

We worked last night and went to Alki beach to check out the amazing sites after a few hour nap after work. Alki beach is in West Seattle and is kind of a peninsula that looks back on the main city. So it gives the best views of the city! It is packed with people enjoying a Sunday afternoon.

Tara trying to get into the ocean...she may be trying to escape from me...

Where's Waldo? or Tara?

I almost fell off the ledge.

Tara took a photo of two people getting married....creeper.

The city is gorgeous!

I HATE this photo...you can tell I hate the ledge.

Alki beach is a popular spot with lots of people and GORGEOUS homes. In the middle of the high-end realestate, there's this dude in his lawn chair.

Our best shot of the city at night...woops! We'll try again later :-) Miss you all :-)

Chopstix

So for everyone who looked at the blog and thought all we do is drink...I'm here to prove.... that ok this may be true. But these first few weeks have been about exploring and meeting people! This is what we were meant to do!

Tara and I didn't nap once on the way to Washington. For a full 24 hours we found something to discuss or look at. We talked, listened to the radio/cd's ... and I bought a personality test and gave it to Tara! It consisted of dozens of multiple choice questions and at the end....TADA!.... Tara is an outgoing, extrinsic, non-sensitive personality. And even better...so am I. So you would think that getting the two of us together would be trouble....you're right. My favorite thing about Tara is that she convinces me that anything is a good idea:

Dance on stage? Sure!

Sing in front of an entire bar? Awesome!

Take 4 redheaded slut shots? Absolutely...

But if you've ever been to a dueling piano bar you know what a riot these can be and at $3.00 a drink all night for ladies, it was even better. It's amazing how two people at a piano can suddenly play any song you put in front of them. The crowd was fun and the dance floor was packed. Our friends Dylan and David met us out (until David got escorted by the police...true story). We danced (onstage), sang along and met some fun people! We're goin back!

David is back left and Dylan back right. I went to college with Dylan and he is here in Seattle on the Coast Guard. Crazy connections!

Our first week

Seattle has been nothing short of a complete blast! We seriously can't believe that we have been here for one week already... and most important, haven't killed eachother. However, there have been moments like last night when I gave the cab driver the wrong address and cost us triple the amount to get back. Or when I hit a pigeon with her car window causing it to crack...or according to Dawn it was a turkey ;-) And Tara just reminded me that I dropped the entire case of beer in our kitchen causing a long delay in her nightcap.

We have the most amazing views from where we live on Queen Anne Hill. I guess it is the highest point in Seattle according to some internet page, and if that's wrong, blame Al Gore. We're literally minutes from the Space needle and where the houseboat from Sleepless in Seattle was filmed. We've been exploring everyday and can't believe how fast our days go. We don't plan anything, just start walking or driving and let ourselves run into things.

About a mile from our apartment...

Two days ago we went kayaking on Lake Union randomly. We went in a double kayak and went all around Lake Union. My arms were like jello afterwards. We were kayaking past this house and Tara said, "Wow, I love that house, it's just like the ones from Sleepless in Seattle!" She took a photo, I thought nothing of it as I was dodging the seagulls flying above our heads and hoping the airplanes landing on the water would see us. We came home, looked up Sleepless in Seattle Houseboat on the internet and wa-la...it was the EXACT same house.

Sleepless in Seattle House

So proud we didn't tip!

Tara's driving is starting to scare me a little bit. I'm the designated navigator (and if you know me, you know that that is not a great idea). I bought a fold-able Seattle map the other day and you can imagine how tourist-y I look with that thing in the passenger seat while Tara is shouting at me to tell her what to do. Literally happens every day. But she has almost killed a total of 4 police officers. The first day there was one on foot, the first day of work she almost hit a female cop on a scooter, and yesterday there were 2 officers on bike. So we're pretty sure that they talk about the crazy Grand Prix at their meetings with Packer plates. ... and can you believe that I never stop hearing about the pigeon/turkey.





We just got done eating some amazing fresh fish that we got yesterday from Pike's Place Market. The market was overwhelming crazy with tourists and locals getting the freshest fish, flowers and fruit! We stocked up big time and took advantage of the freebies that the vendors gave us. The fish vendors were really chatty and gave us lots of free smoked salmon. The first one we talked to gave us this amazing recipe and started asking us where we were from, noticing our accent. So we in turn asked him. He was on work release. Tara said, "Like work-comp?" His response.... "No, more like prison." OH! Ok...thanks for the fish...

Makin' some dinner :-)

Today was a good relaxing (hungover)day. We worked out, got our hair cut by women we couldn't understand, tanned, and went walking around Gas Works Park. It has been BEAUTIFUL weather here with no stop in the sun in sight. Tonight we're headed to a dualing Piano Bar called Chopstix for ladies night. Hope to hear from you all soon! We miss our family and friends back home and are glad we can share our experience with you this way!

Randoms

Hanging out with the geese in Lake Union.

This hill literally almost killed us. We are going to sign up for American Gladiators after Seattle.