Richland and the Olympic Peninsula

Lots of pictures from June and July!

While in Richland, my mom cooked for me. Here I am enjoying a salad on the front steps of the house.







Also, my hair has gotten so long (I'm pushing a year since the last cut) that I've taken to double looping it. Looks vaguely Japanese to me.






So I went to visit my refugee friend in Prescott, on the apple orchard where she works. This is the long, straight road between.







Here's mom and dad at lunch. :)

And here's peaches from the tree in the backyard that my dad tends. Yummy, juicy!








OLYMPIC PENINSULA:
This is Rialto Beach. My first time touching the Pacific from the Washington State coast.















Ruby Beach:













Rainforest near Lake Quinalt/Maple Grove (Nancy wisely took pictures of all the signs so she wouldn't have to rely on memory to place photos, wish I had.):















Forks signage. Nancy's humor.


Order window at Sully's, Forks retro burger joint. Forks is the setting for the popular book/movie Twilight. I know nothing about it except that one of the actors has been in the tabloids.









Cape Flattery, the northwestern most point on the continental 48 states. I loved this place. None of the guide text talked about how dramatically beatiful it is, just the location.
























Crescent Lake









Hurricane Ridge













Rock shop that was Nancy's only Must See, outside Port Angeles.


Annual sand castle contest in Port Angeles that we paid a dollar to sneak peek.







Visited my best friend from high school, Meggan, and her family in Port Angeles. Her Swedish husband, Mattias, also spent high school in Richlandia so we all go way back. The last time I saw their little one she was 2. Their elder daughter was spending a few weeks in Sweden so I missed her. It was a great, short visit. We chatted and played Euchre!












We went to dinner at her friend Joy's restaurant, called Joy's. Nancy treated and said it was the best meal she's had in a long while. The food was great. Cheesecake...














We left the Peninsula on a Saturday and drove to Camano Island where my sister's friends invited us over for crab!



































Back in NYC. I'm freelancing at my old company, Deutsch. I'm subletting a room in a 2BR near Columbus Circle and posing as a Manhattanite. This is the MoMA special exhibit by a Chinese artist who collected all his mother's belongings and arranged them as an installation piece. Meant a lot to me, in terms of my own saving, spendthrift mom.

This caught my eye, narcissist that I am.








And this is called "Huggable Mushroom Cloud" which also was a great meld of my spheres.

Family: the great time warp

Seriously. When I hang out with my family, I kind of forget about the rest of my life. I am only a daughter, a sister, or an auntie. There is no "Irene", only "Xiao A Yi" (pinyin for 'mother's younger sister'). So now I face the biggest blog lapse since I began, I think.

The rest of my time in Richland was packed to the gills with good visits with more friends interspersed with FB Texas Hold Em'. Had a cathartic discussion of sorts with my parents and the fruit of that emotional expression/honesty is still reverberating. If fruit reverberates, that is. Ripening, might be a more contiguous verb. So, again, yay emotional maturation! Yay, counseling! One friend of mine whom I saw a few times during my 10 days in Richland quipped (I paraphrase): you have a lot of patience to engage with a variety of people and really listen to them and remember details about their lives. It blesses me to watch you interact with people. Her words were very affirming as I find her an incredibly upbeat and engaging person.

So I wound up driving the standard-shift, no power steering, cassette tape deck truck to Seattle as my parents went up the day before so my dad could attend my niece's "Special Guy" kindergarten lunch. It wasn't so bad. Dance recital was fun(ny). And I was The Face Painter at her 6th birthday party. All the moms recognize me as such now. One kid asked if it was my job. Maybe I should consider it? Speaking of, my current idea list of jobs come 2010 are: teach, nanny, freelance project management, and nursing school (I realize this is not a job). So kind of broad spectrum. And of course I could become another empty-pocketed writer. Which sounds kind of appealing as well.

So the party was fun and the clown was totally not scary and very funny ("Nothing better than an iced-mustard.") but the memorable thing was that during the party my other sister called to say that my dad was going to take me sick mother to the ER because she couldn't stop puking. And this was on my mom's actual 73rd birthday! So they hydrated her and gave her some medication IV and sent her home. But we were all worried. My mom is a workhorse and kept apologizing for not being able to help out. This was the least of our concern. Anyway, some drama ensued about whether she should go home or stay but eventually she and my dad went home to Richland for a few days before coming back so my dad could present the gospel at an area Chinese church event. I have many thoughts and feelings about the Whole Thing but most importantly, I created a Therapeutic Event (so calls my counselor) in that I am separating from my parents' marriage. It's not mine, I've got no business in it, and boy is that freeing. (Thanks to Kristie who shared some good stuff with me and confirmed that it's the right thing for me to do, emotionally--even if it sounds crazy.)

The rest of the week has been a mix of Play Dough with my 2nd youngest niece, Jackpot (some ball toss game) with my eldest niece and her neighbor friends, wiping up spills, changing diapers, playing Settlers of Catan with my brother-in-law and sister, grocery shopping, researching washing machines, driving the minivan around, and tickling my nephew. I am the 3rd parent.

I did see my high school friend Jason yesterday for coffee. He works at T-Mobile and I hung out with him before he caught the bus back across Lake Washington (well, missed and caught the next one). So that's some peer-level interaction.

My next stops are Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia in Canadia and Banff with Juanita; Bellevue/Seattle for Independence Day; Richland for another week; TBD; camping in Mt Rainier Park; the Olympic Peninsula with Nancy from Richland; and NYC on August 1st.

I'll post some pictures later today if I get a chance.

Love to you, my lovely readers. A quote via my friend Amy: Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person they are almost indistinguishable. (And reading my blog = being heard. So there.)

Early retirement

I officially enter the non-work force tomorrow. My big travel plans for this first day are to the gym and to the next town over to help my new refugee friend find a job. Circle of life. Thanks to my colleagues and bosses and their wives for a lovely going away party. Elijah thinks I should come up with a shtick for each place I visit like the guy that dances on YouTube only not dancing. I'm open to your suggestions.

Also, my ex-job is covering health insurance through the end of the month, after which time my catastrophic should be active.

AND, I got an iPod touch. Exactly what I wanted: an iPhone without the monthly plan. Hallelujah!