It's snowing

And I am pretty sure the Kid went off to his Saturday woodworking class wearing nothing more than a hoodie and a t shirt.

Snow in most other places isn't a problem. You put on boots and a big coat, you salt the sidewalk and shovel the driveway and get on with your life. But snow in Seattle shuts the city down.

Seattle is the second hilliest city in the country (San Francisco is number one). All of our neighborhoods are named for the hill they are on- Capitol Hill, First Hill, Phinney Ridge, Queen Anne. When it snows, those hills become ice slopes that could get a diamond rating at a ski resort. Buses stop running and park on the street at the edges of hilly spots. One year, the hill in front of my mom's house had no less than 7 stranded buses. They couldn't turn around and they couldn't get off the hill.

I need to run to grocery store. Thankfully it's just a quick walk, but I am worried that they might decide to close down for the snow (chickens!).

I do get to wear my wooly mammoth coat and my shearling boots though. They only get worn once every couple of years. It doesn't snow often here, but when it does.........

Tacky is the new swank

Tonight is my friend Amanda Panda'a birthday and we are celebrating with a tacky Christmas sweater, cookie decorating party.

Much booze will be consumed (of course)

I'm thinking of making anatomically correct ginger bread men

But since my boobs are big enough to launch a thousand ships- I have to make my own tacky sweater (or t-shirt)

must get crafty!

Way too much fun for insomniacs

Imaginary pet blogging

I admit it, I am jealous of people with cute pets who get to post pics of their adorable kitties and puppies once a week. I tell people I don't have any pets cause I've got one monkey child who destroys the house already. But secretly I want something furry and cute. Or maybe a fish. I don't know.

However, since reality has rarely stopped me from anything I have decided to blog about my imaginary pet hamster, Ruby. Enjoy this video from Ruby's days on the popular telenovela "As the wheel turns".

A little challenge

Think you know your world?

Final Score: 379,240
Level Completed: 10
Traveler IQ: 113

Think you can top that? Have you got geography game?

Go Here!

Me in 75 words or less

So for this book thingy I have to come up with a bio that is 75 words or less. I can rant and rave till I'm blue in the face and cramped in the typing hands, but coming up with a serious bio about myself is daunting.

I thought about doing it Chuck Noris fact style.

Red Queen eats computer students for lunch and flosses with copper wire after.

Red Queen can party like it's 1999

Red Queen is not an alcoholic, she process all the vodka she drinks into pure mountain spring water for drought ridden areas.

Whadda think?

The agony!

I am a freak for the perfect pair of sunglasses. I had a pair for years which were called my "Italian movie star" glasses. They were a slightly oversized pair of pink sunglasses whose lenses were a gradient of brown to rose. They made me feel like Sophia Loren whenever I wore them.

Then I stepped on them.

After that I went through many many pairs of glasses. I have 5 pairs right now on the shelf next to my desk and none of them are right. I lost 2 pairs in Mexico, one in the surf off Tulum and another when I was hiking in the jungle near Calakmul. A giant, dinner plate sized dragonfly flew into my glasses as they were perched on top of my head and cracked them in half. I finally found a cheap pair at a market in Chetumal that were *almost* as good as the Italian movie star glasses. I've been wearing them for about a year now.

Being in Seattle, you might think that sunglasses aren't as necessary of a fashion accessory as they would be in Phoenix or Florida. You would be wrong. Us northwesterners have developed super sensitive eyes, like vampires. When that strange glowing ball in the sky finally decided to show itself, we don our glasses as fast as we can so that the burning can be avoided. It may be winter here in Rainland, but we must always be vigilant!

So of course last night I stepped on my purse and heard the unmistakable crunch of a pair of cheap plastic glasses snapping.

What will I do now? Nowhere in Seattle will sell sunglasses until April. I will be blind and stumbly.

But maybe I can use this as an excuse to get a hamster- a guide hamster! Named Ruby!