Momma and Baby Love

Sooo Seattle.

Me in My House.

This is the first house I ever lived in.

When Ashley and I visited Seattle recently, I took him to see it. My dad rents it out now, and we just happened to visit it while it was between tenants (new people were moving in a few days later), so I felt perfectly guilt-free taking invasive photos of one of the cutest little houses I have ever been in.

The structure of my house (I call it that, even though it's not really mine. But in all of Seattle, it's the house that feels closest to mine), is in awesome shape. They put new carpet and new applicances in recently, and all the things that are expensive/difficult to fix look like they are in good shape. However, the lawn needs some serious weeding and manicuring, and the outdoor paint could use a spicier coat of love. Over-all, though, I am pleased with the way the house is holding up.

There are a lot of windows in this house, a situation which offered lots of cool self portrait photo-ops. In this pic, I am looking through the back door and you can almost see through the front window of the house. The white building you see in the window is the renovated garage. It's a perfect little artists studio/office/whatever that really gives this teeny tiny house a little something extra.

I love this house, and I love that Ashley loved it too. I only hope that it makes it back to me one day.

I am afraid of hippos.

This may sound strange, but I used to be terrified of the hippos at the Woodland Park Zoo (Seattle) when I was a little girl. Wierd, considering my favorite animals as a kid were lions. And really, which animal do you think would pose a greater threat if I were to run into the two out in the wild?

None-the-less, hippos used to terrify me. I think it was the way they would just sort of popup from underwater, with absolutely no notice. Or maybe I thought I would fall into their pond. Or maybe I realized, after seeing one yawn, that a hippo could easily swallow my three-foot tall, little girl body whole.

There was a collage of large, smooth rocks that I used to play on while we visited the hippo exhibit at the zoo. They were far enough from the pond where I knew I wouldn't have to worry about falling in, and they were a pleasant distractiont. Pleasant, that is, until someone pointed out to me that they kind of looked like giant hippos, rising out of the water.

This picture, with my mock-Macauly Culkin scream face, shows how I have overcome my fear of hippos. I think I've realized that they can't swallow my new, 5'3", womanly body whole.

It would take more like two gulps.

Hello, I'm a Monk Fish!

The Flying Fish Stand in Pike Place Market, Seattle.