Over my Dead body...

Hey folks!  I don't know about you, but I am a HUGE Charlaine Harris / Sookie Stackhouse fan.  I don't know if you have read the Sookie Stackhouse books, but let me tell you, none of the vampires in these books sparkle!  I just wanted to let you know that there is a giveaway going on right now to win a signed copy of the latest book, Dead in the Family, so if you are interested in it, you can check it out here.  I got a copy when I went to her signing at Town Hall in Seattle, and I have to tell you, that woman is hilarious.  She sounds just like Paula Dean (if any of you are fans of the Food Network, you know who I mean).  

So go and check out The Nerd's Wife blog and sign up to win your own copy.  Although, if you get the chance to see her in person, I highly recommend doing it that way.  It is just so much fun!

F. Bear Slippers

Return to sender, address unkown...

…No such person, no such zone.  I doubt that when Elvis sang that catchy tune, he could have known that decades later we could be singing the same tune, but instead of lovers’ spats, we would be singing about Russian orphans. 

You may have heard about the boy “Justin” who was put on a plane sans parents, with a note telling Russian authorities that he was, in essence, a defective child and they didn’t want him anymore.  It can be very difficult adopting children, especially older children who may have many emotional problems.  Many of them lack the ability to attach and bond because of their abandonment issues.  That said, is it ever okay to pack a kid up like a toaster with a sticky button that you take back to Walmart?   I have thought long and hard about this, and I have come to a resounding “No way, José.”

First of all the adoptive mother, Torrey Hansen, is a nurse.  This is a woman whose chosen career is dedicated to helping those who are sick.  Perhaps she felt that mental illness doesn’t count.  It is impossible to know, because she is currently nowhere to be found.  I guess you can’t really blame her for running.  After all, a woman who would ditch a kid at the airport probably has no scruples about hiding from the law.  (By the way, the family denies that they “ditched” him because they paid a tour guide to pick him up in Russia and take him back to the orphanage.  Has anyone else ever heard of human trafficking?  How hard would it have been for someone to take that kid and we would just never hear from him again?  Would Torrey Hansen have even cared?  He wasn’t her problem anymore.) 

In her reasoning, Hansen stated that she and her family felt threatened by the child and that they feared for their safety.  One might think that the logical thing to do with a boy who is clearly suffering from emotional problems would be to enter him into some form of rehabilitative therapy.  Unless, of course, your name is Torrey Hansen.  According to news sources, she spoke to several psychologists about the boy.  She just never bothered to actually take him to one.  Wow.  Really?  First of all, it might not have been a bad idea for the boy to see a therapist in the first place.  I am sure that adoption in and of itself is a traumatic experience.  Lay on top of that moving the child to another country where no one speaks his language, and that is just a whole other thing.  Lord knows that there are plenty of doctors around who speak Russian.  Heck, even my anesthesiologist at my last surgery was Russian.  How hard would it have been to do an internet search to find the kid a therapist that he could actually talk to? 

Why didn’t the Hansen’s turn to local agencies for help?  There are always programs to help with disturbed children.  They could have received help and much needed support to help him adjust.  If for some reason he was found to be so emotional disturbed that he couldn’t function in society, well, they have programs for that too.  What kind of human being dumps a kid with a note in his pocket (reading, by the way: "After giving my best to this child, I am sorry to say that for the safety of my family, friends, and myself, I no longer wish to parent this child.") at the airport without so much as an hasta la vista? Call me when you land to let me know that you got there safely?  Anything?  The kind of people who belong in jail for child abandonment.  Torrey Hansen’s mother was the one who actually bought the ticket and put the child on the plane.  Is there a criminal charge for accessory to child abandonment?  If there isn’t there should be.

We shouldn’t excuse the behavior of people because they have seen one too many movies about evil orphans from Russia and they are afraid that they are going to get pushed down the stairs.  (Really, there is a movie called Orphan about an evil orphan from Russia.)  Especially when they hardly even bothered to look for help for him.  Let’s be honest, the real reason that they sent him back was because he was more work than they bargained for.  They wanted a cute Russian kid who was polite and smiled.  They felt like they got refurbished goods in a brand new box, so they him back to the manufacturer. 

If this kid didn’t have problems before, he sure as hell does now.



F. Bear Slippers

If you're a stereotype and you know it, raise your hand...

If you have seen the show “Jersey Shore” (or pretty much any other reality program), you know that the single greatest commodity in Hollywood today is fitting snuggly into a stereotype. If you are a shallow high school student with no idea how you want to spend the rest of your life it is okay, because you always have MTV to fall back on.  (So long as you are either rich, poor, skinny, fat, a hero, a villain, a good girl, a drunk, a tramp, smelly, blond or have abs that are in and of themselves a full-time job.)

I have personally only seen one episode of Jersey Shore, and that was more than enough for me. Watching the way those people moved around in circles made me want to run to the nearest clinic and get tested for STDs, just in case I caught something from being is such close proximity to the television. Watching that episode of Jersey Shore may even been one of the reasons that I finally got rid of our cable. Besides the terrible time suck that occurs sitting in front of the tube, I couldn’t even say that the time spent had enriched my life at all. I didn’t learn anything new, I didn’t feel relaxed, I didn’t even feel happy about having watched it. In fact, I think the closest thing to the feeling I had would be akin to the way Snooki’s latest conquest feels the next morning, after the booze have worn off and he is suddenly faced with the terrible consequences of his night out with the boys. In short, I felt sad and more than a little dirty.

There have been some reality shows that I have enjoyed, Top Chef, Project Runway, Kitchen Nightmares, and most recently Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution (I just love anything that has to do with revolution). I will even cop to the season I watched The Real Housewives of Orange County. Watching that show is like reading a primer for everything that is currently wrong with the world. In fact, if there were a primer it would probably be called “Everything that is Currently Wrong with the World: The Real Housewives Phenomenon”. After a short while, it made me sick to watch the snotty, entitled attitude (see my previous blog entry for my feelings about that), and I just could not bear it anymore. The people were horrible, their children were horrible and watching them made me feel horrible. I don’t miss that show one bit. (Man, am I glad we disconnected the cable.)

Now of course, MTV is attempting to capitalize on the Jersey Shore craze and are currently recruiting Persian-Americans for a Jersey Shore type show. First of all, I find it necessary to state that I happen to know quite a few Persian-Americans. I cannot for the life of me figure out which stereotype they are trying to plug into with this. All of the Persian people I know are fun-loving, but I have never seen any of them in a compromising position, or even conducting themselves in a less than honorable manner. Perhaps someone can enlighten me on how Persian-Americans are perceived, because I must have missed the racial profiling memo. I can only imagine that this is something that was cooked up by someone who doesn’t actually know anyone Persian. Not to say that there aren’t crazy Persians out there, I am simply not aware of any stereotypical behavior that would lead one to think they would make good television. Unless, of course, MTV is making a show about young, respectable people making wise choices. Yeah, right.

F. Bear Slippers

When your two year old’s outfit could feed an entire developing nation…

I must admit that I, like many parents, have been guilty of eyeing cute, fashionably tattered/stained jeans for my young daughter. I have purchased clothes from Nordstrom that lasted barely long enough for me to see her in them before she grew out of them, and shoes that sparkled and lacked any element of practicality. Let me follow that up by saying that nearly every item I purchased was on clearance at a mere fraction of the original cost, often not spending more than seven or eight dollars. For jeans I went as high as $30, but that was a rare occurrence.

This all comes about because I was flipping through msnbc.com entertainment and saw what I am certain was intended to be a cute photo montage of Suri Cruise and her extravagant clothing. It was labeled “Suri Cruise carries an $850 purse!” Something about this immediately rankled me. I understand that there are many out there who can afford to shop in such a manner, but the question still remains, “Should they?” When these children who grow up in such climates of excess and extravagance are unleashed upon the world, who will they be, Charlie Sheen or Prince William? Certainly there is a spectrum of people who fall from the “Have” tree and actively seek out to help those of us clawing at the roots of the “Have Not” shrub. But there are far too many children that I see out there in the world carrying their Louis Vuitton purses wearing $150 jeans, who spend their days indulging their senses, texting their friends and ignoring the plight of their fellow man.

The result of these excesses is an entire generation that has been spoiled rotten. And when I say rotten, I mean ROTTEN. A young man recently kicked in the head of a little girl who objected to his dating her young friend. He got mad, so he decided to kill her. Our children are growing up in a world where absolutely everything is objectified, even people. People exist as ethereal avatars on screens and as a result there is no real substance to the connections being formed. If anything, the real connections and relationships are with the technology meant to be a portal of communication. It is so easy for them to harass, embarrass and otherwise torment other people because they don’t have to look them in the face when they do it. When the torment moves to the physical world there is already an established disconnect (which is so firmly entrenched) that they may as well be pushing buttons on their cell phones. In the case of the young girl in Boston, who was tormented endlessly until she hanged herself in her closet, the young girls who were responsible for the harassment bragged about it, and laughed. Those young women are now charged in her death. What do the parents have to say of their ill-bred spawn? According to the New York Daily News one of the mothers (Angeles Chanon, mother of Sharon Chanon) said this, ‘’’(Sharon) exchanged a couple of words with her," Chanon told the Boston Herald. "Phoebe was calling her names. They're teenagers. They call names." Chanon insisted her daughter never "physically assaulted" Phoebe, no matter what the District Attorney says.

"I know she knows better than that. I wouldn't accept that," she said.”’

Your daughter was part of a campaign that bullied a young girl to death. For the fun of it. You are right, she did know better than that. That is why she has been charged with murder.

It is a slippery slope folks. When our children grow up getting everything they want without the benefit of working for it, and are rarely or inconsistently punished for their wrongs, what more can you expect? I have no doubt that even now, as these kids face serious charges that will impact the rest of their lives, they still don’t really care that Pheobe Prince is dead. And they don’t care that they contributed to her death. Can you imagine what is going to happen when this generation of children has their own children? Heaven help us all. I’ll be sleeping with a gun and one eye open.


F. Bear Slippers

If I could change the world...

You may have noticed a newer, slightly edgier tone in my blog, and for good reason.  I am taking on newer and edgier topics.  Not that you won't get pictures of my Christmas tree ornaments, but there are so many things going on in the world that I happen to have opinions about, that I have decided that a blog would be the perfect place to do it.  You know, like every other blog in the world.  But you don't read every other blog in the world.  You come here because you love my humor and wit, and yes even my opinions.  Do I think that my blog will change the world?  Not likely.  But I am more than happy to settle for changing my little corner of the blogosphere.

F. Bear Slippers

Laugh, and the world laughs with you...

Fuzzy Bear Slippers should know by now that it is never a good idea to put an idea down in writing, due to the phenomenon know as "jinx".  Under normal circumstances a jinx might be easily resolved with a poke and a Coke, but alas this was to be for not.

As you may recall I had the audacity to resolve to be on time more often, and my first opportunity of the new year to be at a specific place at a specific time (namely church at 12:30pm today) I was, of course, late.  Not just late, SPECTACULARLY late.  Late in such a fashion that it could only be the cruel hand of fate letting me know exactly what I could expect from the coming year.  As I was running just a bit late, Baby Bear Slippers and I dashed out to the car.  Like I said, late, but not very.  We climb into the car, I put the key in, turn it, aaaaaaaannnnnndddddd...

A loud screeching sound eminates from my car that sounds nothing like an engine turning over, but sounds suspiciously like being very late for church.  I have had my car for just a few days over 5 years, and with the exception of the month that it was in the shop after I wrecked it, I have not had one day of trouble from it.  I must admit, I find it humorous that it waited until I put into writing my desire to be on time. 

So, I said a quick prayer, ran in to my house to get Mr. Bear Slippers who looked at it and finally suggested that I try applying a little gas to prime it, which, incidentally worked.  I am not sure why my car needed priming now, when it hasn't required any such treatment in 5 years, but alas at least I managed to make it to church at all.  I was a half hour late, but it could have been worse.

In spite of what one might call an "omen" I am determined to have a good year this year.  We celebrated a delightful birthday for Mr. Bear Slippers and I have a whole year to make 2010 work for me.  I won't be taken down by a little car trouble.  So, ha ha!  Take that Batman!

F. Bear Slippers

Another one bites the dust...

With the start of the New Year (and a new decade to boot!) it seems prudent to lay out my resolutions for the year.

I have decided not to make any resolutions specific to an amount of weight that I would like to lose, because inevitably I feel disappointed with myself by March and it becomes just another year of failure. So in an effort to be more realistic in my New Year planning, my resolutions for 2010 are as follows:

• Be healthier (eat better, more exercise)
• Get more sleep
• Be on time (well, at least more often)
• Read 100+ books, including at least 15 unread books from the list of Top 100 Books I Want to Read Before I Die.
• Win the lottery, quit my job in a spectacular fashion, blow all my money on cars and salted caramels, beg for my job back, end up living in a cardboard box.
• Create and stick to a budget. (This one is obviously contingent upon the unsuccessful completion of Resolution No. 5.)

And there you have it. I hope you all have a very happy New Year! 

F. Bear Slippers

Reindeer poop smells just like any other...

It has been a very difficult time getting into the spirit of Christmas this year (did I mention that already?).  It is easy to be gay and count you blessings when life isn't hurling smoking hot chestnuts at your noggin.  What about the years when everywhere you turn it seems like you are stepping in another pile of poo?  Then Christmas comes along and it turns out that reindeer poop smells just like regular poop.

Mr. Bear Slipper's mother is back in the hospital.  She was having some problems this morning and wasn't feeling well.  She ended up being checked into the hospital and could be there for a week or more if she needs surgery.  There is a little bit of back story to this... In August of 2007 Mother Bear Slippers got very ill while on a seaside vacation to celebrate her birthday with her husband.  This illness turned into a marathon hospital stay that devastated her family and stretched to nearly a year (honestly, it felt longer).  Miraculously, medical science has come far enough that a person no longer requires a pancreas to live and once she was out of the hospital she merely required insulin injections and digestive enzyme pills to survive.  Perhaps F. Bear Slippers deluded herself into thinking that Mother Bear Slippers was completely out of the woods.  You see, Mr. Bear Slippers is close to his mother and watching him as he tried to comfort her (even spending nights by her side), for so long was devastating to me.  I wanted so much to be able to make everything better, and I felt utterly useless.  At several points I was preparing my self for the devastation that would be caused by her death.  Frankly, to this day I feel that her survival was a miracle.  Some how she pulled through it and eventually, she was home.  

Maybe I tried to minimize her health problems because it would be too difficult to deal with more illness.  I mean, it isn't like Mother Bear Slippers is a little old lady.  She is a spry woman that could barely be considered outside of middle-age.  I want to see her as invulnerable and healthy, but I suppose it is not as I thought.  It is very sad that of all the days she needed to go to the hospital it would be on Christmas Eve, though I don't think that it would really be any easier if it had been April 4th, or June 29th.  But when it is already difficult to catch that holiday cheer, this makes it even more troublesome.  I am wondering how Mr. Bear Slippers is going to handle it.  He is a tough guy who is well prepared for pretty much anything that life has to throw at him, but his mom seems push a button with him.  For the moment, I will continue to pray that Mother Bear Slippers gets better very quickly and that she will not require surgery.  I also pray for perspective to be able to remember the sacrifices of my Savior in order to ease the burden that I carry.  Some people feel that prayer is silly, but I find great solace in it and I do feel like it helps.  

So, there you have it.  Christmas in the Bear Slippers house is cracking up to be a doozy.

But on the upside, Baby Bear Slippers got a DNA experiment kit (complete with three speed centrifuge) which I am very much looking forward to helping her with.  I received a kit to grow carnivorous plants which should be fun.  I saw it at Toys R Us when we were looking for gifts for a friend's birthday party and I really wanted it.  Baby Bear Slippers went back with her dad later and bought it for me with her own money.  Isn't that sweet?  I know that I am blessed.  I just hope that Mother Bear Slippers comes out of this problem healthier than ever.

Merry Christmas to everyone.

F. Bear Slippers.

Visions of Sugar Plums danced in their heads...

It is Christmas time in the Bear Slippers' house, can you feel it?  One of my favorite things is decorating the Christmas Tree and listening to Christmas music.  As I listened to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing "O Holy Night" this afternoon on the way home from work, my heart felt light and the season felt real.  It has been difficult to get into the spirit of the season for me this year.  The stress of Mr. Bear Slippers finishing up at the newspaper and getting into both of the University of Washington's business schools (I am still so excited about that) and then getting my test results back and finding out that my doctor's initial diagnosis was correct has been overwhelming.  But, if there is ever a time to heal and feel loved, it is Christmas.  So I am going to take you on a little tour of my Christmas Tree.  I collect a wide variety of Christmas ornaments, namely ones that are unusual and full of quirky character (like Fuzzy Bear Slippers herself).

Here is my tree:

I have a little tree because we don't have the floor space to properly display a big tree, but I put it on an end table so it looks tall and then I drape the table in green velvet and gold brocade.  I love my star on top, though it was nearly impossible to get a proper image of it.  The camera doesn't really pick up the sparkle of the glitter.

Here is Wonder Woman:

Please note the detail in her golden lasso.  She is ready to kick some butt.  Right next to her is an ornament of her invisible jet, but alas, you can't see it, because, well, it's invisible.

When she isn't doing invisible jet setting, she likes to roll like this:

And here is her Justice League pal Kal-el (aka Superman):

 

And last but not least (for tonight anyway), Uncle Bob Bear Slippers.  He is visiting from Kodiak.

And there you have it.  Christmas in the Bear Slippers household.  I hope that everyone else is enjoying the season too.  It never seems to last as long as it did when I was a kid.

Happy Holidays.

F. Bear Slippers

In God We Trust...

I have had a really crummy day today.  And I mean REALLY crummy.  Like, so crummy that I have to break my rules on using the word "like" at the beginning of a sentence AND using all caps for emphasis.

This year has not exactly been the bright shining star that I might have hoped for at the beginning of the year.  If I had known what I know now I would have made resolutions along the lines of, "Don't leave the house. Ever." Or possibly, "Hide from authority figures."  Needless to say, I do not have the gift of premonition, nor do I have the technology for time travel, so I am pretty much stuck with the year that I have had.

Some good things have come out of my trials this year.  First, I love Mr. Bear Slippers more than I ever have (if that is at all possible).  He and I have really been through the wringer this year.  Interesting fact:  Did you know that a "wringer" refers to an old fashioned clothes dryer in which you cranked your clothes between two rollers?  It would wring out the water.  So when you imagine us going through the wringer, picture this:

Yes, our wringer came with the dutiful housewife in an apron too.

Anyway, I found out today that I likely have a medical condition that is going to follow me throughout my life, and it was sort of the icing on my proverbial cake.  It seemed fitting in a way that a year that has been so rough should end on this note.  I am wondering what exactly it is that Heavenly Father would like for me to take out of this year.  Clearly whatever the lesson is, I am not learning it.  But at the same time, I got a wonderful little reminder of how precious his tender mercies can be.  On the way home from picking up Baby Bear Slippers from her grandmother, I asked Mr. Bear Slippers if he might not pick up my prescriptions later as he was going out anyway and they weren't supposed to be done for another half hour.  Just as I finished asking him, my phone rang and it was the pharmacy calling to let me know that my prescriptions were ready.  As I hung up the phone, Baby Bear Slippers piped up from the backseat, "Heavenly Father did that for you mom!"  Mr. Bear Slippers and I got a much needed laugh that God saw fit to help me out in my time of need, and we engaged in a nice round of morbid humor.  I must say, morbid humor is my favorite kind and I always make jokes to lighten the mood, even if it is my own problem that I am laughing at.  As we pulled into the pharmacy parking lot, the spot right in front of the doors was available and I pointed out to Mr. Bear Slippers that "Heavenly Father did that for him."

I think that sometimes the help that is offered may not be the help that we would like to have.  In this case, I would much rather that I never had to deal with this problem.  But at the same time, everyone has stuff that they have to deal with and I am grateful that I am not so jaded that I can't see when the Lord is giving me the little lift that I need, when I need it.  In this case, I was so blessed to have my daughter in the backseat offering the perspective that only a child could have the clarity of mind and spirit to see under the circumstances.(She doesn't even know that I am having a problem.)  But when I needed that little reminder that my Father in Heaven loves me, my baby girl was there to deliver.  He can't make my problems go away, or at the very least he shouldn't, but he does have the power to ease my suffering.

Having this perspective was a lovely thing in a time of need, and when I got home and pulled out my bright and shiny new orange pill bottle to read the directions (Take With Food), I remembered that Oreos count as food.  Also, when I dropped the first pill into my hand, it was my favorite shade of blue.  Clearly a case of kismet.  Perhaps the greatest gift the Lord gave me was not the prescription being ready a half hour early, or even the parking spot in the front of the pharmacy.  Tonight, the gifts that I am most grateful for are Mr. and Baby Bear Slippers.

Baby Bear Slippers on her 8th birthday.

La Cucaracha...

Today several co-workers and I celebrated one of their birthday parties at a Mexican restaurant called "Cactus" in Madison Park.  The restaurant was delightful!  We started out eating some delicious fry bread and a really tasty salsa.  I am usually very tentative about eating salsa in new restaurants as I do not hold up well to spicy foods.  Gratefully the salsa was very mild, but incredibly flavorful.  They also had a fresh guacamole that was to die for.  I ordered their chicken fajitas which were pretty good, though I prefer my fajitas with a lot of caramelized onions and green peppers and there were only onions (and not nearly enough of them).  After lunch our waiter brought a flan with a candle in it for my co-worker which we all shared.  Well, okay.  I ate 2/3 of it...  But two of them didn't like flan, one of them only took a couple of bites and the birthday girl probably didn't want to look like a pig wolfing down flan.  You know, like I did.:/  Anyway, it was the best flan I have ever had, and I didn't even know that I like flan!  Also, they have a Quesadilla with BACON.  BACON!  Can you believe it?  It is like someone took all of the things I like and threw in something special for Mr. Bear Slippers!  (Honestly, I have never met anyone who love bacon as much as Mr. Bear Slippers.  He is currently working out the logistics of rendering a patty made entirely of bacon to put on his burgers.  I kid you not.  He saw it on the Food Network and never looked back.)   So, there you have it.  Any day that I find a new restaurant that I like is a good day.  Also, this place was just around the corner from a a French restaurant I ate at once about 4 years ago with some friends.  I loved the food and had a wonderful time, but I couldn't remember where it was!  Turns out it is called The Madison Park Cafe, and it is in... You guessed it!  Madison Park!  So this day was doubly successful! 

So, if you are in the Seattle area and looking for a good place to eat, I can recommend Cactus (not to pricey either), or The Madison Park Cafe (pricier).  A caveat on The Madison Park Cafe though... When we were there several of the people at our table ordered coffee after dinner.  It was late in the evening and they asked for decaf.  We happened to be sitting in the back of the restaurant next to the espresso machine and coffee maker and watched one of the waiters dump the coffee from the regular pot into the decaf pot and proceed to fill several people's cups at other tables.  A little disturbed, we asked our waiter about it and he confided that they only serve decaf, but that people can't tell the difference.  When people ask for regular, they just put the decaf in the a regular pot.  How funny is that?

I still recommend them though.  I remember having a squash soup that was incredible.

F. Bear Slippers

To infinity, and beyond!

Have you ever had to sit through a business meeting that seemed like it would last forever? I had to sit through one today, and in honor of said meeting, I would like to post my top ten favorite things about long meetings:

10. My rear end gets a break from sitting in my regular chair… By sitting in one less comfortable.

9. I get to do my Kegel exercises while holding in my pee for 2 ½ hours.

8. Making whirlpools with my water bottle.

7. Pretending to listen to people I pretend to like, whilst pretending to care about whatever it is they might be saying. In short, I get an opportunity to work on my multitasking skills! That baby is going on the resume!

6. Having an opportunity to sit and ponder the mysteries of space and time.

5. Thinking about how black holes are made, and how they relate to the mysteries of space and time.

4. Contemplating cheese. (Oh come on, you can’t tell me you have never done it.)

3. Wondering if ghosts are real, and if they aren’t then how do I explain all of the weird stuff that happens on Ghost Hunters. (Seriously, did you see the one with the ghostly figure in the heat spectrum reader???)

2. Wondering if putting garlic around my bed will keep the ghosts from getting me while I sleep tonight. Vampires are dead and ghosts are dead too, so it should work, right?

And my number one favorite thing about sitting in long meetings:

1. All the cupcakes I can eat!

F. Bear Slippers

In the fastlane to nowhere...

Well, my first day of blogging has gotten off to an auspicious start.  I fell asleep on the bus on my way home from work, and woke up just as the bus was leaving the freeway.  I thought, "Oh, thank goodness I woke up in time!"  Then proceeded to get off the bus at the wrong park and ride. :\

You see, I usually get off at this park and ride, but this morning I was running early and I decided to park at the one just a bit closer to my house that I usually have to blast by so that I can get a couple of lights between me and the bus.  That will teach me to leave early I guess.  Anyway, I was very grateful that I got off at the park and ride BEFORE the one I parked at, because several buses go between the two and I only had to wait about five minutes for a different bus to come by that took me to my car.  And, on the up side, it gave me something to write about in this blog!

Also, some very good news... Mr. Bear Slippers got into the University of Washington!  We have been waiting with bated breath for the letter and it came yesterday!  Congratulations Mr. Bear Slippers!  Our family is going to have to do some switching of allegiances, as we used to route for the Cougs in the Apple Cup (Mr. Bear Slippers' sister's alma mater).  Now, the Bear Slippers family is all about the Huskies!  It's okay though, I look good in purple.

Ahhhhh, life is good in the B.S. house. 

F. Bear Slippers

Welcome to the jungle...

This is my first blog, and I am so tempted to sit down and spend the next six hours typing out my life story, which will certainly bore people to death and will likely crash just after I have finished typing it, but before I have saved it.  So instead, let me introduce myself, I am Fuzzy Bear Slippers and I live in the Seattle Area.  I am married to a wonderful man (Mr. Bear Slippers) and we have a beautiful daughter (Baby Bear Slippers).  I am a working mother and I don’t get to spend nearly as much time with my family as I would like.  Therefore it makes perfect sense that I would create one more thing for myself to do that will take me away from my family.  I’m a genius!

I am very quirky and love the unusual.  I love science fiction and I am not ashamed of it.  I grew up watching Star Trek with my dad and now my daughter watches all of those things with me.  My favorite show of all time is probably Stargate SG-1, and I have every episode on DVD.  I love the theatre, opera, ballet, Broadway… You name it, I love it!  Mr. Bear Slippers loves the opera and ballet too, though I would probably have to drag him to a Broadway show.

Last but not least, I love Sasquatch.  And yes, I believe he is real.

F. Bear Slippers