It Started with a Journal

Terrible news. Five Guys Burgers & Fries has finally opened their Lynnwood location, and it's less than a mile from my park and ride! The Northgate location was just inconvenient enough that I only went once in awhile, if it was on my way and it happened to be a meal time. But now it'll always be right there, after work, when I'm hungry. This is a DISASTER.

Slowly getting better. I feel OK, I just have annoying cold symptoms. Even more annoying than those is the fact that my new contacts still haven't come in.

Finished watching all 3 seasons of The Inbetweeners. It's so hilarious (there's always ONE point in the episode that makes me fall on the floor laughing), but also a bit sad to watch because these guys are SUCH tools and hardly anything good ever happens to them. The show is based on how pathetic (and funny) their lives are, but in another sense it's also kind of like watching A Series of Unfortunate Events, because you know that, whatever happens, it's not going to end well.

I did practically no cooking over my vacation and I thought I'd lost the urge, but now that I'm back home the interest is coming back as well. I got a few new dessert cokbooks (including Flour by Joanne Chang, which looks amazing -- it's sold out on Amazon and has been for over a month), but I'm on a more savory bent right now.

Speaking of food... Oh pickle and peanut butter sandwich, how I have missed you! I am continually amazed at how good this combo is every time I eat it (usually for breakfast, cuz it's quick and easy). Unless you don't like pickles or peanut butter, try it, you might actually like it.

I've borrowed the first season of Castle from the library. I've never seen even one ep of this show, so I'm ... cautiously optimistic? I just gave Hawaii Five-0 a try (3 episodes), and despite my love of Grace Park I had to chuck it. The lead character is an annoying asshole and the episodes are boring. If I want to see Grace Park I'll just pull out my BSG Blu-rays. <g> Anyway, my goal this weekend is to finish two books I'm partially through: The Magicians and Peony in Love. I started reading the latter while at jade_okelani's, and while it's nowhere near as strong as Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which has made it onto my list of fave books of all time, I just want to finish it.

I'm considering getting earthquake insurance for my parents' house, as it's in California. Problem is that it basically doubles the homeowners insurance, and the deductible is 15%. So basically, at least to my mind, it's only worth it if the house falls down completely. But if disaster struck and it actually DID get totally ruined, insurance would sure come in handy. Anyone have experience and/or opinions about this? I'd really welcome other thoughts because my own are constantly changing.

Have you guys heard of SwagBucks? It's a program where you earn search points to get stuff like Amazon gift cards and what not. It's been going around LJ, I think. Anyhoo, if you're interested and so inclined, sign up using my referral code -- it'll earn me extra passive points. :D Thanks if you do!

Hello lovely LJ people! I tried to keep up while I was in LA, but I failed.

Big news: the ongoing saga of my trying to buy a house for my parents is finally coming to a close. They've found a place, and it's rather a lot more than I was planning to spend because it's a new development, but various things contributed to the change. The house is supposed to be finished before the end of the year, so I'm in the loan process right now so we can try to close by then as well. Of COURSE the rates would spike right on the very day I was finally ready to lock (4.75% instead of 4.35%, which was the lowest rate I'd seen from my credit union during this process). Sigh. Anyway, fingers crossed that something random doesn't happen so that the loan gets turned down, because that would really suck (not the least of which is losing all my deposits). Before they decided on this place, I hadn't bought the new car yet, I hadn't refinanced my own house, etc. So all that piddly little crap might influence the lender, I don't know. There are various reasons I'm not very happy with the overall situation, but I don't want to get into it right now.

I have another British show to rec (introduced to me by akscully): Misfits. It's about 5 juvenile delinquents who discover they have superpowers. It's created and written by Howard Overman, my favorite Merlin writer. But this show is NOTHING like Merlin (other than being British). It's most definitely not family friendly -- profanity and sex abounds (oh if only Howard could exercise these energies for his Merlin stuff...). The first season only has 6 episodes. They're in the second season now and I believe a third has been confirmed (how I hope this doesn't mean Howard won't have time to write for Merlin, because I LIVE for his episodes). Anyway -- none of the actors are very attractive (except Nathan is growing on me), but that's part of its charm, I think. Plus it's hysterically funny.

Speaking of Merlin, tomorrow is the season finale! I watched eps 11 and 12 at jade_okelani's and I have to tell you, I was pretty underwhelmed. I just don't understand how, first of all, a show that has 13 episodes can take 8 months to film. Second of all, why can't they figure out what to do with a main character who's not in like 75% of the episodes?!?! Third of all, if they need to give the principals a break from time to time, why can't they come up with more compelling plotlines than Gaius or Other (Gilly)-centric crap?! Tomorrow's episode better be epic. It's going to be the last episode for like a YEAR, and if it's crap, I'll be sooooooo disappointed. Unfortunately, precedence is not my friend.

Finished Sopranos S2. I am so relieved that certain character(s) have been written off the show. Also, am rewatching It Started with a Kiss, which is the most wonderful guilty pleasure of all time.

I made a super awesome tomato bisque last night. It's kind of a lot of work for a simple tomato soup, but that's just because I think a tomato soup should be really fast and easy. Making your own though is so, so, so much better than anything you can get premade at the store. Plus! I got to try out my new immersion blender.

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I have some very good news. It's about my mortgage. I know, you're riveted now.

My mortgage is through Chase. I'm sure, like any company, people have had good and bad experiences with them. For my own part, I've never had any problems. I hesitate to say that means it's been positive; it's not like I've gone around ecstatic that they're my mortgage company or anything.

However, I am now cautiously optimistic that sometime in the next two weeks, I will be able to say that I've had a really positive experience with the company.

Last week, I got what's known in some circles as "the magic Fedex letter" from them about their "mortgage rate reduction program." From what I can tell of what I've read by others who have gotten the letter/offer as well, it's a targeted program, sent to a select group of mortgagees who've always paid their bill on time, still have equity in their home, the home's their primary residence, etc. etc.

Essentially, the letter is FedEx'ed next business day, and you have like 4 days to respond to it. The offer is for Chase to lower your existing mortgage rate (mine was 5.875% for 30-year fixed) to a more current rate (for me, it was 4.625% for 30-year fixed) with zero closing costs. Basically, they're just going to lower your interest rate for nothing.

It sounds too good to be true, right? I was certain it was a scam. So I did my online research and nope, it's totally legit. Nothing official from Chase on why they would do such a thing, though there are forums speculating (generally accepted thinking is that Chase wants to prevent their best customers from possibly refinancing with someone else, so they can keep those customers and look good to investors).

There's no appraisal or anything. Once you talk to someone on the phone to accept the offer, they send you a good-faith estimate. If you want to proceed (and there are very few reasons not to, if any), you send them two documents: a signed authorization for disclosure and a copy of your homeowner's insurance policy to prove you have it. That's it. They then contact you to set up a closing date when you sign all the papers (that's where I am now, I sent my two docs yesterday and am now waiting for someone to call me to set up the closing date). On average they are closing people within 2 weeks.

This might be the first time I have ever gotten anything good come of being a good citizen (or schmuck, depending on how you look at it) and paying my bills on time. Usually you get exactly nothing for that. You get breaks if you're a problem child who can't pay your bills (usually due to living outside your means, but also other, better reasons), so they'll work with you to lower the amount of what you actually owe, which is a really fucked up system, but whatever. Or, you know, you'll get more by switching to a new phone company or whatever, instead of being a loyal customer. Which, again, fucked up. But finally, Chase is giving a reward for good behavior. What a concept! (And yes, of course they get something out of it, too. But that's true of everything.)

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Now in not-so-great news: I locked my keys in my car yesterday. Specifically, they were left in the ignition of the Pontiac. I didn't even realize until hours later, when I was going to take Talis to the park and was hunting high and low for my keys.

My only excuse is that it's nearly impossible for me to get locked out of my Lexus, which I've been driving some form of for the last 3 years, so there are certain habits I've developed. Like, I never, ever have to take my keys out of my purse to drive/lock/unlock my car. So I've lost the habit of pulling keys out of ignitions and putting them in my purse or realizing when they're not with me. Now that I have the Pontiac, I've had to relearn that automatic reflex, but obviously it's still not second nature to me.

The good news is that because of the Pontiac, I do have roadside assistance (I might've mentioned this -- trialing Allstate Motor Club for 2 months for $1.99/month). Of course, I was imagining that I would use this for towing, not locking my keys in the car, but whatevs, still possibly the best $2 I've ever spent.

It took 40 minutes or less from the time I called Allstate to when I had my keys back. They sent someone who came to my house (luckily the car was just parked outside and I hadn't locked myself out at, say, the Mukilteo Lighthouse) within like 15 minutes. That was pretty awesome. It wasn't awesome for poor Talis, however, who didn't get to go to the park after all because it was starting to get dark when I was hunting for my keys, and by the time it was all over it was actually dark.

akscully! I have received your mix tape! <3 I can see it was made with love and a lot of insanity. It might have been more impressive if you'd written XQ's entire letter and announced, "Classmate Sarea, I like you!" but still, it was quite wonderful as it was. I shall treasure it always. Where did you get the songs? Are they just from a couple different albums, or are they all different? Sometimes I feel like I recognize the melody from a soundtrack or something, and then I realize that while it's familiar, it's not exactly the same.

I woke up several times in the night thinking about how tragic Natasha Richardson's death was ... I must've been thinking about it unconsciously all night. :/

I've gotten my April issue of Gourmet. I already have a method. I flip through the whole thing once, and read things here or there that catch my attention right away. Then I go through it again and read the stuff that I've bookmarked in my head as being interesting. Then I read through it a few more times more thoroughly, and catch all the stuff I've missed. It's been a long, long time since I read any magazine so avidly. I think the last time was when I was 14 and reading Seventeen magazine. I love how clean the magazine is -- at least on the subscriber copy. None of the big headlines trying to grab your attention as the checkstand versions have. I saw the cover of this issue and immediately started drooling and planning for when strawberries would be in season. I must share... ( Don't sue me, Gourmet. )

corianderstem and I went to Crush for dinner last night, and I must say, it lived up to its reputation. It was one of those fancy places that bring you a little "chair" for your purse. Given that our expectations (well, mine at least) were fairly high, it's kind of amazing that it was able to live up to them. I really, really wish I'd brought my camera. We were seated in a fairly secluded area where waitstaff wasn't passing by constantly (I'm less concerned about other patrons seeing me photograph food than servers), and the food was beautifully prepared. The restaurant is in a remodeled old home -- the restroom even had a bathtub in it! Speaking of the restroom, we both fell in love with the awesome soap they had -- La Compagnie de Provence - Liquid Marseilles Soap - Olive & Lavender. I may need to actually get it. Edit: I totally bought it, and also am trying their grapefruit version.

As for the menu... ( What we had... )

My dad has found a promising property. I may actually have photos and more details to share soon!

1. It snowed again. Pretty sure I didn't sign up for this. This just better not mean that spring/summer is delayed even further this year. I hate the cold.

2. Watched K-HYD ep 20. Finally JD is GJP's personal maid! And poor, poor GE. But it's okay because her relationship with YJ totally had to take this path or it would never work out. Also, whenever I watch this show I have this craving for ramen. It always looks so good when they're eating it. Which is ridiculously often.

3. Am still in the process of looking for house #2. So many on the market that we haven't even begun to really narrow them down. My dad is supposedly going to go around taking pictures of the exterior and interior (the benefit of having a mom who dabbles at being a real estate agent is the ability to get into houses with lockboxes w/o having to call another agent). The vast majority are 1-story homes, not sure why that is, but I'd prefer a 2-story. When/if I get any photos and more details, I will be sharing so I can get your guys's opinions.

4. Played many, many games of Word Twist. Lost nearly all. Sigh. Damn you, ropo.

5. My monitor is spazzing. :( It was working just fine the day before, but yesterday when I turned it on it started doing some massive flickering. It was constant. I have a spare monitor so I'm not completely freaking, but this one is my 24" and fairly new still. Sigh. The sort-of-good news is that after a couple of hours it stopped and worked normally. This morning it went through the same process -- flickering for awhile and now it's fine. But it doesn't bode well. Since it seems to do it whenever it's turned off for a period of time, maybe the solution is simply to never turn it off...

6. Had a weird conversation with an old WoW "friend." I'm not sure what to call him. I'm cutting this as only jade_okelani and akscully have ever met him, so others may find this information less than interesting. ( So out of the blue... )