Windy Days and Dreams of Failure...

The ocean is the most obvious dictator when it comes to weather here in Seattle. The ocean will push dense fog over highways, drop misty mornings in Ballard, and toss in a wind storm here and there that will take out power for a week and show down the city - which is what's supposed to happen tonight... I have also learned not to believe the weathermen. They don't seem to get it right - in Seattle.

Today I learned that the AIDS Vaccine Trail in which I was participating failed. Harsh words but essentially it didn't work - it wasn't producing the results necessary. When I was called about it, I started laughing and telling the nurse in charge of my vaccine, "David, don't you remember, I came in for a vaccine one time and told you about a dream I had where it had failed." You're scaring me Michelle. "No, remember, you pulled us all into a room - kind of like a theatre - and told us it hadn't worked and sent us all home." (I blogged about it the dream. And I know I dreamt it because I had no reaction to the vaccine which just made you think nothing was happening.) I made a joke about it because when I find myself in stressful situations I try to find a reason to laugh. But it's not wasn't funny. They had a lot of hope for this vaccine (it was in a Phase II B for those of you who know about these things). A lot of hope slipped away - especially for all of these people in the world who are waiting for something to slow down, alter, change this deadly disease which is killing generations - which has take friends of mine who were parents, coffee shop owners, artists and teachers.

I hate it when you dream of things like this.

A Perfect Fall Day...

Cold rain fell on and off all morning matting orange and red leaves against the street and sidewalks. It felt like fall - where you want to curl up for a nap - especially after a weekend like this one, long days full of events both for fun and for work. we brought out a speaker, doctor, civil libertarian, social Justice advocate whose passion for women, their health care and their rights was so invigorating, so inspiring and so absolutely exhausting. We have so much to do to protect how far we've come.

I would like to be a dancer, please.

The Bellingham Betties rolled out onto the floor and put on a fantastic show of roller derby tonight! There were some incredible hits, nail biting jams, keeping the score within points of each other, many tied moments during the evening. I had been there since 11 a.m. (met friends for breakfast at 10 a.m.) setting up bleachers, the "green room", explaining how roller derby is played to friends and parents of roller girls (one women said I should be a writer... funny.) It was a great evening hanging out with some of my regular roller fans like Weedy and Jon, Papa and So Sue Me. Astro and I saw each other from across a stack of bleachers and ran to hug each other like long lost (derby) sisters. I truly enjoy derby and love, love being a part of it! The Betties did such an amazing job and put on such a good bout - I was proud, once again, to be a part of something so fantastic. At the end of the evening, I had a beer with Hotty and some of the usual suspected before hitting the road for the 85 mile trip back to Seattle.

Road trips at night are among my favorite. My car pushed 42 miles a gallon, I can see the crazies who don't see each other in their blind spots, and you look into the distance knowing there are stars somewhere above the mountains and the tree lines. You pass by certain points hoping the drunks aren't out as the Pacific Northwest fog starts to dance in. The miles tick by, the music is great, and sometimes you wish you didn't have a destination.

I got home to cats deprived of attention and a wine glass calling my name. I put on the public television as background noise poking around the Internet, when the "classic arts" program came on - showing an incredible performance by Romanian dancers. They were modern dancers, ballerinas and gymnasts. I saw long tulle skirts out of the corner of my eye and was memorized by a dance that was mostly upside down with legs in the air, looking more like living art pieces than dancers. Their strength amazed me - their costumes were fantastic. I was rivited. I was thinking of an amazing show I saw as a kid on the public channel in Denver involving animated found objects. When I was younger, I had so wanted to be a dancer.

Going to Egypt...

It took an hour and a half for Kelly and I to buy our tickets to Egypt tonight. (Lara is out of town but we got her's too.) The sites were slow, the prices kept going up. I hitched up my theory that our IP address was being tracked and our poking around various sites was actually blocking us out of the lower fairs. We logged onto a different computer in the house and got back to something super cheap (comparatively) with only one stop (there aren't direct flights from Seattle to Cairo) and voila! We're going. We can hardly believe it. I love it! I can't wait!

Woot!

Fall...

It's been a very cold and chilly week - the heat as been turned on every night this week and the trees are making an earnest effort to change colors along some of my more familiar streets. I love fall, for the reasons most people do - bright colors, sweaters, hot chocolate, tea, totty, evenings curled up watching a movie, windy days, brisk hikes, cool rains, dramatic skies filled with billowing clouds, and that feeling of change which makes me want to get rid of the summer stuff I didn't wear, file that box of papers and toss things I haven't used.

And that's what I'm doing tonight. After weeks of go-go-go, I'm taking an evening to be quiet, do laundry, sort thru the junk mail, hang out with kitty friends and get to bed at a reasonable hour on this windy fall evening.

Coming full circle

My older brother Mark arrived in from Portland yesterday afternoon heading out of Seattle on Thursday morning flight... Are you free? Can you move that meeting? Let's hang out! After having taken 3 days off Deep in the Heart of Texas, my head was spinning but we took off on the town (after seeing up for a work meeting), scooted to the Chapel (old funeral home that's now a bar) for a drink, chatted about kids, being parents, ate some dinner at the Hopvine, told some funny stories, shared some different perspectives, went up to travel team practice (which I couldn't miss), chatted about derby, and headed back to the Matador for late night brews and nachos before a quick nap Mark headed back to Cinci and I went to work. Spinning.

Tonight two of my teammates, So Sue Me and Mile High Mary, gave me flowers and a bottle of wine for all of the work in our skate-a-thon which helped us raise money for a portable skate floor (our goal was $4k and we're past $5k - yeah!) I was so surprised! It was so sweet and completely unnecessary and a bit overwhelming. Such a nice thank you. Which reminds me of my blog posting the other day about thank yous - both giving them and receiving them.

Thank You.

Deep in the Heart of Texas...

I would break out into song every once-in-a-while and make Megan absolutely crazy (not intentionally it just happened.) I just got back from 5 days in Austin, Texas for the WFTDA Roller Derby Championships. It was an absolutely amazing time with some seriously fantastic derby played! We had a pig roast on Friday night and Saturday and Sunday were filled with watching bouts as Kansas Rollerderby Warriors, seated forth in the western conference upset the weekend by winning the championships! Fantastic. And I will consider writing more about it when I'm feel less jet lagged and out of sorts as the temperature was 90 when we left Austin and is a very cool 50-something here in Seattle....

Keeping it in perspective.... part II

So tonight after leaving a late work meeting for our fall campaign kick-off one of my newer colleagues said on the way out the door "Michelle, I was going to tell you this tomorrow but I thought I would tell you know. I really like working with you. We're a very good team." And instead of saying "thank you", I stammered on "well, I enjoy working with you too." I couldn't just take a compliment and appreciate it.

I had to learn this in the Peace Corps. Someone would give you their village's only chicken and you could not give it back, you could not refuse it, your only option was to say "thank you". Learning to receive is one of the toughest lessons. It's easy to give - give a compliment, a gift - it makes you feel good, it's easy. But to receive is more humbling and more difficult.

Saying "thank you" can be the hardest thing to do sometimes.

Keeping it all in perspective...

This weekend my league smashed it's goal to raise $4,000 towards our skate floor with the most fun event - a Solid Gold Disco skate-a-thon. Like every other walk or run, you could have gotten pledges for laps or just a flat donation. A friend of mine burned 2 hours worth of AMAZING 70's music, about 25 people showed up and we took over the skate floor - kind of. We really just skated some leisure laps around the track, (some made an effort to actually skate a decent amount), stepped over falling children and had to tolerate a mix of disco and modern tween music that kept getting requested when too much disco had been played. Here's some photos from the event:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67749380@N00/sets/72157602152541185/

We had every intention to go out with some of the skaters (Hell'en Skate, So Sue Me, Cia WoodnWanna-Bia) for "the retros" but landed at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants in Everett (and Seattle for that matter), Gorditos, where Marlene works. Ok, actually she owns the place. She's someone I met in PFM and she now skates on Rat City's Socket Wenches. She's got to be one of the nicest people ever. We meant to go hear music and dance and instead we ate and drank at her restaurant, talked about skating, about plans, life and all of that. It was a great and completely random time.

However, come Monday, work needs to be done and emails need to be answered. My friend Annika IM'ed me from Egypt (where Kelly Rae, Lara and I are going in November!) I have been before and am thrilled to go to Egypt again! When I came back from the Peace Corps (and the first time I went to Egypt), people use to ask me what I wanted to do next? I would say I didn't know, but I hoped one day to be the ambassador to Egypt (of course now I realize I'm sleeping with all the wrong people.) Anyway, we talked about what we had going on in our lives and she resent me the link to her blog: http://stompercat.nomadlife.org/. Oh right - so much going on in the rest of the world! Sometimes you need a little dose of other people's experiences and perspective to remember there is so much else going on... and it's not about your job on Monday....

Some people exchange rings...

Derby Wives Exchange Socks!

It's official - Weed Wack Her and I eloped on Friday, September 14th.

She gave me whale socks.

I gave her spider socks.

It's true derby love.

Here she comes...

Autumn that is. Saturday night was cold crispy rain that smelled like musty leaves even though there are few to be found and rather chilly. This past weekend found me and some friends over in the Olympic Mountains, up in Hurricane Ridge, at a roadside winery (where the original grapes are from Germany) and then over in La Push where I tried to grab a bit of rest before welcoming autumn. We grilled squash, corn, brats, fish - went on small hikes and got to see some "reluctant creatures" bobbing around the ocean. Sea lions were in the turbulent surf as were pelicans. There were other people hanging out in the National Park getting ready to welcome autumn with one last Hurrah!

I took People Magazine (I had two having accidentally grabbed the fall fashion issue), a new book I didn't even crack open and two letters I have been trying to write for weeks - a thank you to a friend that is shamefully late and another - an update to my great aunt who turned 93 this summer and still lives on her own. I finished the People Magazine and wrote the letters where they still sit in my bag, needing a stamp.

I can't say I'm going to miss this summer. Always an optimist, I feel rather ripped off. The weekends were damp and chilly. It never got very "warm" yet alone hot. People have told me that the summers in Seattle are the reason you stay through the 9 months of winter. I've been here for two hellacious winters (one that nearly broke a consistent days of rain record) and one rather glorious summer. And really, if you're not going to have a snowy winter than you should be allotted more sun in the summer!

100 Million Details...

And if you had a magnifying glass in my life you might notice a couple of things that might pass by unnoticed...

My knees are better - I can touch both heals to butt, which if you're use to being able to do this regularly, it's a pretty big, fantastic deal. I can't say that the idea of falling on them is appealing at all but skating, which I've been doing lightly, feels so much better.

Phase II, is the HIV Trial Unit I recently joined. I'm actually in my second month of the vaccine and the most reaction I've had is a dream that my RN, David, pulled all of "us" (I don't know any of the other participants) into a room to tell us that the vaccine wasn't working and the trial was over. That was a dream. It's been pretty easy and I am just hoping beyond belief that this is going to create a positive response. We so need a vaccine...

Derby Girl of the Month - who knew there was such a thing and who knew I would get it! I was completely surprised and flattered - when they were reading the description of the recipient I was thinking, she is great! Ha. I'm honored and thrilled.

The Poor Earth... a friend and I were watching a public TV show about penguins - two icebergs collided and all of these penguins died (read:global warming). Some were crushed, but many more got stuck in deep crevasses and died of starvation and cold - they can't just climb out of deep holes. It was a very sad show and it lead to many conversations about what we can do for the "poor poor Earth". My roommate is getting rid of her penguin killing car (bad emissions); I'm thinking of going back to being a vegetarian (low meat diet); a bunch of us are working on NOT procuring plastic bags... two hurricanes on the same day. Come on, something is going on... and there is something we should try to do about it.

It's all in the details...

Trust me...

That is what Jason, my acupuncturist kept saying to me on Wednesday after work. Trust me. He had gotten my newly dog-biting knee to bend so far back I swear my leg was twisted like a pretzel. Of course, this mantra came after a needle hit the nerve it was supposed to but sent an emotional shock of electricity through my leg and I thought I had kicked him. But I burst into tears instead. It was fine. The whole appointment was great save for that one part. Trust me. And I told him how interesting it was, that my body was learning to trust my knees again. You failed us! You caused us great grief. Now they say trust me. He agreed that was part of the problem of pain - that you are hurt like that and you need to trust your body to do its job again. The whole hour ended up being about trust and I walked up the stairs to my apartment like I usually do, no over compensating in my calves, but just up. And it worked. We were starting to trust each other again.

Tonight at practice we stretched (limited) and I helped with plyometrics... and then I went to put on my skates and I said to my knees, what do you want to do? And they said back to me - we trust YOU. Ok actually, my knees said nothing of the sort but I did come to a compromise with myself - my body needs to trust my knees not to let me fall and bring back that biting dog that so terribly hurt me and my knees need to trust my body not to push too hard. And it worked out. We had a great time together. Not pushing too hard and not going too strong. Just enough - enough so that we, my body and knees, went dancing after practice - at Neighbors for 80's night, which was super fun. I ran into Drew Blood there (who I've danced with before out at clubs) who was just getting back to dancing after cracking vertebrae (4) in her back. Neighbors kicked me out with "Under Pressure" - Queen - Freddie Mercury - which has, in the past made me cry. The logic goes like this: I love Queen. I loved Freddie Mercury. He died of AIDS. I hated the 80's. I hate Ronald Regan (for never, ever acknowledging the problem). Oh God what are we going to do? Then I'm overwhelmed. But tonight it was just my other fabulous teammates, Drew Blood, a shot someone didn't want to drink and my knees trusting me.

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Connie Torturous, the Dog that Bit Me and in love with my knees...

Now, a couple of weeks ago, I was walking down Phinney Ridge (ave), with a volunteer, going to meet with a stylist who was working on an event for Planned Parenthood when a woman leaned out of the passenger window and yellow "Hey Connie!" waving furiously. It was flattering, it was baffling, it was also 11 a.m. on a Friday in Phinney Ridge. The volunteer knew I did roller derby, followed-up with "who was that a fan?" Hmmm... it could have been but I was doubtful "if you put a helmet on her, I'm sure I would recognized her as a derby skater." "So can I call you Connie?" (No, but you can call me Torture like everyone else.) And last week, I found out it was a skater who I knew but who, honestly, I had only ever seen once without her derby gear and uniform. This time we caught each other in a wedding dress (her) and hot little blazin' yellow piece from Mexico (me) to add to the impressions of each other.

Sunday night, a giant pit bull tore off my knee and I screamed in the worst pain ever. Well, ok. Let me explain. It was the last 5 minutes of practice. I had had a "jacked" left knee and a right one that had been injured but had recovered from our last bout. We were doing this light drill that was pretty easy, loads of fun. One of the new skaters was coming through the "pack" and I went to push her out of bounds - half paying attention, not wanting to knock her down (which wasn't the point of the drill) - when she stumbled over a cone and because I was only half paying attention, I went down with her. The pain that shot from my recovered (less jacked) knee was terrifying. I scooted backwards on my butt to get off the rink and stared at my knee like it needed to come off. Like the pit bull that was biting my knee and pulling at it, needed to win, to take off my leg and go away. And I scooted away from my leg (forgetting it was attached) hoping I could just leave it behind. I had to get away from it. But there it was - still attached. Two dozen short breaths, and mumbles of "ohmygodohmygodohmygod" later, the dog walked away. Incredible. Intense. A believe it or not, very little damage. Some angry muscles, a little swelling. But what incredible pain. What an amazing dog.

And what an amazing physical therapist I have, who with some massage, a little bit of ultrasound managed to worked the "jacked" left knee to the point that my heal could reach my butt - the first time in a month. I was thrilled, I did a happy dance - I said I would stretch and do everything (as I have been doing) to take care of it! (The knee with the dog bit needed to calm down before it can be worked on.) I danced, literally, out to the car and then call friends telling them the great news about my knee and how happy I was and how much I loved, loved, loved my knees, and my physical therapist. And derby.

Old Money Wanted

That is what the sign read on the shop outside of my hotel in Boston - which happened to be the oldest (continuously running) hotel in the US - and the oldest in Boston - which is pretty old in US standards. I was there for the Development Officers Conference, which I've attended (in various cities) over the last 5 years. It was, as always, a great week of fundraising workshops (yes, those can be great!), seeing old colleagues and peers, exploring a new city (though I've been to Boston a couple of times) and most importantly, being inspired by my work. This year's speaker was Dr. Kenneth Edelin, "a young, black doctor who arrived in Boston in 1971 to do his residency training in obstetrics and gynecology at Boston City Hospital. In April 1974, when he was three months away from completing his residency, he was indicted on a charge of manslaughter by a secret grand jury." Because he performed abortions legally in the city hospital. Because he was black. Because people didn't like how their city was changing... and he was found guilty.

He brought tears to the eyes of women who have been fighting the fight for decades, he light the fire in the bellies of younger generations who had never heard this story. He was passionate about the plight of poor women, of poor disenfranchised, black and Latino women. He was amazing and he made me feel so good about my job and the work that I do. Incredibly inspired.

On Wednesday, I left the very old city of old money and headed to Vegas - a shiny, sparkly new city in the desert who money is just as Mafia tied as Boston's but has a much shorter history. It's also a city that rebuilds itself every 20 years, pulling off history like an outdated pair of jeans. I feel like I could take a deep breath and blow it down.

I was in Vegas for RollerCon, a roller derby convention with 1,500 participants from all over the world. It was amazing! By 9 a.m. I had down an hour of plyometrics and an hour of skating drills. I would sit by the pool for 20 minutes then rush off to a workshop about sponsorship, rules, merchandise, membership in the the main organization, grab my skates and go to another drills class where I skated backwards for two hours and learned how to do whips. Go back to my hotel, grab a bit (we were always forgetting to eat) and then head off for scheduled bouts between teams like Team World (yes, those from England, Australia, New Zealand) vs. Team USA, East Coast Refs vs. West Coast Refs. Then, with skate bag in tow, head over to the scrimmages where there were two teams - black and white. You pulled on a t-shirt, laced up you skates and headed out onto the track. Phew. Oh, let's not forget the Black and Blue Ball, birthday parties, burlesque, shows, Derby Weddings, etc., that went all night long. It's truly a city that never sleeps.

RollerCon was incredible on so many levels - not only did I get to meet gals from sister leagues all across the country (even got to know some of my Cleveland pals) but I got to be a part of this really fantastic movement of empowering women - of athleticism and entertainment. I got to fill my "bag of tricks" with more ideas and techniques for skating and sisterhood and connections for help. I came away with t-shirts (for my teammates who didn't attend), a bag full of tricks and enough ideas on how to do it better. Truly inspired.

What a weekend!

On Friday, at midnight, book #7 of Harry Potter was released. I was out at a fabric shop picking out material with Suzi for CarnEvil and was too tired to head to a release party - my last chance. I received the first Harry Potter while I was in the Peace Corps. I couldn't understand why my friend, who worked at the Borders where I had worked, sent me a book for 8th graders. My French friends wanted a "simple" English book to read. I have them Harry Potter. They gave it back a month later and said "we didn't understand a thing." So I opened it up to read it and explain it to them... I stayed up all night reading it. When I go back to the States, #2 had been released. I read stayed up all night reading it and would go to bed when my dad was going to work. (His comment was "you need a job Michelle.) #3 came out during my travels across the Midwest. And I've been thrilled to get single book. JK Rowling has grown as a writer with each book, the characters are stronger, they grow up, the plot is complex and dark and with millions of other people across the world, I'm relishing this last book - so sad that it's going to be coming to an end. What a journey.

Today, I finally, finished my rain barrel project for my P-Patch. Up extremely early this morning, I read as much Harry Potter as I could before decided I absolutely had to finish it. I started it at the beginning of the month and didn't have a chance to get back to it - plus I was lacking motivation for reasons that need their own blog posting. Two trips to Home Depot and a lot of help from Lara (both my knees were up in ice last night), my community P-Patch has a rain water barrel system fit for kings - or for very granola crunchy Ballard gardeners.

But all of this is just icing on the cake - for all of these other wonderful things stood in the shawdow of Jet City Rollergirls Expo Season, bout 2! Last night, with relatively few snags, we turned the Everett Skate Deck, once again, into a venue that held hundreds people to watch some fantastic roller derby! My team kicked butt! We had come such a long way since our last expo bout two months ago. I was so proud of all of them, thrilled to be part of such a movement and excited about the future of our league. So many friends who hadn't seen me bout with my team came out and were surprised! There were so many other surprises and though CarnEvil didn't win either game, we had a great time and worked so hard. I even got into a brawl with the Pink Pistols co-captain. We have a great schtick and our fans love us. I managed to jack both of my knees (the left one on Thursday and the right on Friday.)

One comment I truly appreciated last night was "Your team's tenacity will pay off Michelle."

Oh, you bet it will.

Flying Fez, flying flags...

I won the bet with myself - Fez was the first one to fall off the balcony. I came home from practice last night and was on the phone when Fez jump onto the balcony from somewhere - but where? I watched him for a minute and then he jumped off the balcony onto the window ledge of one of my kitchen windows. Of course Fez found a way to get further and higher - that's his nature. I called his name, he jumped back onto the balcony but because he was thrilled and crazy (like cats are) he turned and jumped right back to the ledge, did a triple pirouette (show off) but misjudged his landing and feel off the ledge, three floors, into the bushes below. I got off the phone and went running downstairs where I met my neighbors below (we just saw a cat fall from the sky). He was poofy tailed and shaken but mostly disappointed in his landing. Friday and Monkey came to the edge of the balcony and meowed to him below as he cried and cried... most likely because of his damaged pride.

We need an American flag for our bout this weekend and I just happen to have one - the one used at my grandfather's funeral, folded nicely in a triangle, collecting dust on top of my bookshelf. It's a very nice flag, well made, thick and it means a lot to me because my grandfather meant a lot to me. He served in WWII - 5 years - two campaigns. He was part of intelligence (and if you heard his stories, he was sometimes the only intelligent one.) Played pranks on his buddies, got in trouble with everyone, had something to do with the liberation of Buchenwald, was part of the Battle of the Bulge, had a thousand stories and could make me laugh harder than any other person I've ever known. I wrote an award (small award) winning play about him. He was the best. And I have his flag. And I'm thinking he would LOVE it if I used it during our roller derby bout for the national anthem...

Burnt Grass, Burnt triathalons

The lawns around Seattle have faded to brown, as they do every summer. The great thing about Seattle is the lawns die and come back later - it turns out most lawn die and come back. I'm glad to live in a city whose residents' priorities do no include watering lawns - because it's HOT. Hot for Seattle seeing that it's going to reach a whopping 90 degrees tomorrow. Not Midwest hot but definitely Seattle hot.

And in the heat of the summer, drinks after work (when not at practice), sunsets at Golden Gardens, roller skating outside, walks around Greenlake, and the occasional work meeting, I've done nothing for my triathlon training except run after skating practice. With 6 weeks left, a trip to Boston and Vegas and a hundred other things that are far more interesting to do (like read the new Harry Potter book!), the triathlon has become a donation to breast cancer. It wasn't a lifetime goal and I don't like doing things half-assed. I don't feel bad for bailing on it - I'll do it next year when I actually make it a priority - or not. Like the lawns.

You should be dancin' - Yeah!

Saturday night after a BBQ with my team, a group of derby gals, with a at least one other thing in common, went out dancing. It was Juice - world music themed - benefiting Darfur at the Baltic Room. It started off a bit slow with the DJ just not quite spinning the right combination and only a few people on the floor willing to brave what came next. The crowd kept coming and eventually a new DJ took the table and I found myself dancing to samba mixed with hip-hop, electronica with a touch of Middle East pop, crowds of people mashed on the dance floor and it was hot - but so much fun - to be out dancin! I loved it and I missed it. In a conversation on my way out close to 1 a.m. a guy said to me when I explained that Juice happened once a month - You only come out once a month? - which I would like to have said - no - I come out every weekend. But I can't quit say that just yet...

Happy 231st birthday!

I participated in my first 4th of July parade as the Jet City Rollergirls rolled down Colby, shouting "Happy 4th" and cheering for the fans, (who were cheering for us.) It was super fun to be with such a passionate group of gals. The parade was short - barely a mile - but long enough for me to get oddly shaped sunburns through the elbow pads on my arms.

I went back home to Seattle, took a few laps around Greenlake before heading back up to Edmonds for a tiki BBQ at my friend Sassy's house whose backyard had been tikified and all of her friends were part of the rockabilly crowd. After some tasty Mai Tais, dips, pies, tiny kee-bobs, and watching a bigger small dog try to snack on a mini-small dog, we headed back to Seattle to pick of my friend Christy - who I knew as a volunteer at Planned Parenthood in Cleveland. She had emailed me periodically over the years to tell me of her many adventures and recently she said she would be landing in Seattle. I told her to call and she did!

We picked her up and dashed off to another BBQ on Dexter, where the grill ran out of gas (but just as my brats were done grilling), overlooking Lake Union where one of the best fireworks show in the city was. It was like having a seat in the center row of the auditorium. We got to see it all. (Fantastic!) Traffic took forever (taking Christy back to her rented room in Capitol Hill) and I crashed out having had one of the best 4th of Julys in a very long time.