Almost a month!!!

On Monday, it will officialy be 4 weeks that I have resided in Seattle(technically Bellevue, but you guys don't know the difference so I say Seattle).

Here's what I have discovered that I don't like about Washington:
They have car pool lanes on the highway. You must have more than one occupant of course to use this. Since I am always with Athan I always use this lane. Here is one of two problems with this: One, the people of Washington are the slowest drivers in the world!!!!!!!!!! The WORLD!!!!! If the speed limit is 60, they all go 58. I have yet to see people passing each other or cursing each other out or acting violent in anyway. I haven't even heard people honk at other drivers. I am not sure if this is a learned behavior or what, but everyone seems eerily calm when driving this slow. Even if they are in the car pool lane, which is also the far left lane(which everyone knows is the speed lane---Everyone knows this). Yet here, it apparently means no different than any other lane. They go just as slow. It is very annoying.

As I weave through traffic I try to explain to the other drivers that just because it says 60mph, it doesn't mean that you go 60 mph or less. It means you have a good ten mph above that before the cops will come after you. I try to explain as I pass them that the far left lane is for people that are willing to risk going 20 mph ABOVE the speed limit. I try to explain as I pass them that people have to be somewhere and we are not driving on this forsaken highway just for fun, that there are people and appointments waiting for us. I try to explain this but I only have half a second as I pass them by so I just give them the middle finger as I honk and stare at them violently. I am aware that they see that I have an Illinois license plate so I am sure once they see that they are aware that I am a superior driver who is allowed to whip through traffic with reckless abandonment and ease. Surely they say "Wow, her driving is exceptional...I see she must be from the Chicagoland area by the way she cuts through traffic having the ability to both tell us to fuck ourselves and give us the finger all while weaving through traffic. Kudos to her!"

Also with the car pool lane, these are the slowest people at times. There is a sign that says if someone is violating the car pool rules that you can call it in. I have a feeling I am going to call that number on the slow drivers in the lane even though they are obeying the law. Maybe that will scare them enough to stay out of the lane.

Food in Washington: I specifically mean this for all those restaurants that say they serve Gyros. I hate you all violently. I love Gyros.....just the traditional Gyros. Nothing fancy, just a regular Gyros. Here is the problem: Greek people are the only ones------I don't mean to stereotype, it's just a fact------who know how to make a Gyros! It's not that it's hard, but we know the right kind of meat and sauce etc that go into a good Gyros. However, here in Washington most of the gyros stands are actually Middle Eastern cuisine. So, many places will advertise a Gyros and then in the same sign say come get a falaffle( I know that's not spelled right but I don't give a shit cause I don't even know what a falaffle is but I know it does not belong in a restaurant that serves Gyros). But these Gyros are not made the way we are all accustomed. They put all this seasoning on it and curry and the sauce is milky and shitty and and the pita is dry with no oil on it and then they put lettuce on it...it makes me sad to think about it. So Theo and I were in the mall and we saw a restaurant that said Greek Kitchen!!!! I was so excited I actually almost ran to this place...which is difficult when you are carrying around an extra 30lbs of baby in you. I got to the place with Theo and noticed the menu, which did have Middle Eastern cuisine on it as well but I saw the Gyros spit on the roller and saw that it looked normal. Now the guy behind the counter didn't look Greek or Mexican so then I worried again. But then I saw the Gyros sauce and thought, OK...still looks good. SO we ordered. I noticed that it was taking awhile for them to make it and they weren't cutting it from the spit but we had already ordered so I held out for the best. We got home and sure enough, those motherfuckers mixed it with some curry spices and shit. I don't even know what it was but I know what it wasn't. It was not a GYROS!!! I don't understand this state. I can't figure it out. You know what it's like to want something familiar and home like and you end up with something that is foreign and a reminder that you are far from home. I almost wanted to cry. Theo knew something was wrong when I angrily was picking through my "gyros" with tears in my eyes. I hate that Greek Kitchen restaurant and I will tell them they are not Greek!!!!!!!!!!!! They are a middle Eastern Kitchen and that they should remove the Greek term from the sign. I may even protest..........I have nothing else going on and it would amuse me, but seriously.

On the bright side, Theo did drive further north and found a greek restaurant that served Gyros.........real gyros..........with greeks and mexicans in the kitchen.....who know what a gyros is and how it should be cooked. He found this place today and brought me a gyros which is what started reminding me about that stupid Greek Kitchen and their shit "gyros".

I also went to a Whole Foods. I know we have these at home but I never went into one. Has anyone been in these places? They are fabulous. Silly in price but absolutely fabulous.

I haven't really made any friends but the people at the grocery store(not Whole Foods as it's expensive and snooty, but QFC which is like Jewel) seem taken with me. Not all the people, just the butcher and the bagger. I asked the butcher if beef is always so expensive in this state---becuase it is more expensive than home----and he said yes and asked where I was from so I told him and that's when his attraction started to grow. I don't know if he could tell that I was pregnant and hadn't showered recently but I wasn't wearing a ring so I think that was enough to encourage him to talk. Plus, I guess most people don't actually talk to the butcher so maybe he was taking this opportunity to simply chat. Regardless, he seemed to fall in love with me. The bagger likewise was taken with me.

Things I enjoy about Seattle: They run the show "Frasier" a lot in reruns here, which is nice. They also run the movies Twilight a lot but I don't know if it's a Seattle thing necessarily as the programming is Showtime so I think everyone is seeing it the same amount but I don't recall it being on so much. They play a lot of Muse, the band, here which is good----again it's a Twilight thing. The weather has been mild. It's never really cold or really too warm. I think that's most of what I like here.


Easter was interesting this year. Usually it's spent with our families. Of course at mom and dad's home, we have lamb. They did have it this year but Theo and I  and Athan ate at a hotel brunch. It was good but definately not the same at all. Really, it was very wierd and I can only expect that future holidays spent away from home will result in either my cooking or going to restaurants. Again, not very happy about it but what can you do.

Saw the doctor and we decided that I will have the baby on either June 8,9 or 10th. All those days sound good to me. Even earlier sounds good to me to but it also looks like I will be spending my 7th wedding anniversary in the hospital. I can't help but think theo planned this out very well in order to keep me occupied on our anniversary so he wouldn't have to get creative with a gift.

It's a Saturday night and I am pregnant and watching Golden Girls. I desperatly need a new life. I'll keep working this one cause I like it but I definately need a new life once this baby comes out.....The same life is fine but I need to be out with some girlfriends getting silly drunk in some dive bar in Plainfield where girls try to choke me for "grazing" their boyfriends with Janelle.

2 weeks already!!

So it has now been two weeks here. I finally got my car today which is great as Athan and I have been a bit trapped. We had been waiting for it to be shipped and now I am imagining all the wonderful places Athan and I will travel to while it's raining.

We went to the Tulip festival this past weekend with a friend of Theo's from work, his wife and their almost 3 yrs old son. It was a nice time and the flowers were lovely. It was so muddy though and every time you walked through the row a bit to take a picture, you got muddy. There are several photos of me carefully walking through the row as I didn't know I was supposed to wear boots and really only have one pair of shoes I can wear. Then we went on a ferry. This I have to say has been the highlight of my two week experience. It's fascinating!!!!!!!!!!! They take ferries the way people take trains at home. Just get on, cross over to an island, and then come back. I asked the couple we were with what's on the islands and such and they said it's the same as any place, just separated by water. I asked if there were Wal-Marts and grocery stores. They said of course. I asked a bunch of inane questions because I find it so fascinatling. I suppose I could have given them a better impression of myself but I need to know little details for this to make sense of why people lived on these islands. Regardless, fascinating!!!!!

I am big and fat and waddle around a lot. That's a bummer. I had to do the 3 hr sugar test as I failed my glucose at home but after being poked and prodded for several hours it turns out I am fine. I did however go and get scans of the baby and they did a few 3D ones as it appears the baby has a glogged tear duct. This is amazing!!!!!!!!!! Sometimes modern technology just blows me away. He looks just like Athan. At first it looked like his nose was enormous and I asked the tech. to be honest and tell me if she thinks he has a large nose, but it turned out, his nose looks just a little large. I am awaiting his arrival but then I am sure once he is here and we are home I will want to put him back in.

It's been two weeks of really not working, other than minor things, and I must say I enjoy no one wanting me. It feels good to be unwanted...........poor and unwanted are oddly right up my alley.

Easter will be here soon and this will be our first holiday away from home. I am sure it will be sad. We usually have lamb for dinner. I will not be making lamb.

Oh my gosh I forgot to say that we also went to Pike's Market which is the big market everyone knows about. It was Fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!! There was so much stuff to see and so much to buy. I didn't buy anything really cause we got there so late but I can't wait for my parents to come down here and see because my dad will love it!!!!! They had huge lobster tails.............I just wanted to steal all the lobster and run out of there. I will be back there soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 6 of Seattle

Hello Cats and Kittens!!! It's my 6th day here in Seattle and everything is super!! I am in love with everything here!! Everyone was right who told me that it is so pretty here and there is fresh seafood!! As everyone knows, those are the two items people can't live without. Many times I would have clients ask about Plainfield and if I commented on anything other than the landscape and the seafood, I was scolded. Seattle Rules!!!!

So I am a tad bit sarcastic at the moment. It is not bad. It has rained only 4 of the six days and with that said, it's usually very brief and then the "sun" comes out.

Our arrival Monday was uneventful other than the delay in flight and then being told we have engine flow issues. But we are the Van Wermeskerken/Kalpakidis family and only good luck follows us!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday was a day of recovery, Wed. Athan and I ventured out: the walk was fine and Athan seemed to like it. We stopped into a donut store so I could get some donuts after we walked around. I asked the girl behind the counter if the large donut was filled with anything. THis was my first conversation with someone that was not my son or my husband. This was our conversation:
Me:"Is there any filling in the donut"
Girl:"No, it's a plain donut %%%%"
Me:"It's a plain donut what?"
Girl:"It's just a plain donut %%%%"
Me:"I'm sorry. Plain what?"
Girl:"%%%%, you know, %%%%"
Me:"No, a Plain Creme?"
Girl:"No, %%%%%...a plain R-I-N-G.....ring...a plain donut ring."
Me:"Oh.....A plain donut ring......sorry I am hard of hearing"
-----Fact: I am not hard of hearing.

So apparently here we feel the need to describe the shape of the donut we can clearly see is shaped like a ring.

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Overall, Athan says he likes it here but keeps asking when he is going home. While he likes his room and his racecar bed and our condo, he keeps asking about his house back home and his cousin and of course my parents. WE have been skyping which is funny. However, my mom keeps crying when she see Athan on the computer and Athan has no patience to wait by a computer to talk.

Theo has been working a lot and he comes home and is tired but has helped around the house and with Athan.

I have a 30 week old baby trying to get out of me. We had our first doctor appointment yesterday. Overall it went well. I met the nurse practitioner who was very nice. She must be married to someone greek because her last name seemed Greek but she did not seem Greek. Her last name also roughly translates to "snots". Because she was so nice I decided not to bring it up. When they were giving me the questionaire and such she asked me if I was a homemaker. A homemaker. This was very disturbing to me. I explained that well technically yes I guess I am now but that I worked before etc. I was very bothered. I will have to find some sort of job at some point. I didn't know people still used the term Homemaker. I had a vision of an apron all of the sudden.
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So it's Saturday right now and I am going to eat something so that's enough for now.