In Our Shoes

The big event today was Eleta's celebration of Kwanzaa; she does it throughout the year to help her remember the 7 principles.  This time she asked us to first go to Lake Burien Presbyterian Church to view the exhibit, In Our Shoes. In July, 31 members of the church went on a week-long pilgrimage called, "The Gospel & Politics of Race" to learn about the enslavement of Africans & its legacy of racism in the U. S. that we face today. It was such a moving experience they came back and created this excellent exhibit in just a few weeks! It is on view on Saturdays from 10 am to 5 pm through the end of October.

L to R: Robin & Janice head in to the exhibit.

We went to Eleta's house after viewing the exhibit and celebrated Umoja, the first of the principles of Kwanzaa. We also shared a potluck meal.



I started the day with another massage from Lorena. My shoulder has been feeling much better since she worked on it last week. Today it felt even better! I really need to find someone and start getting regular massages again.



I picked Kai up after my massage; we went to Café Makario again. This time Kai tried the Dutch Latte; I had my usual Matcha Latte but this time I had it with coconut milk.



Because we were going to have a long drive to Burien, I went to the bathroom before we left. All the storefronts in this building have a central bathroom for employees and patrons; it was a maze getting there. Getting back involved following the signs in reverse; but they didn't have a sign on their door unlike the Midnight Grocery. I recognized their door by the bench sitting nearby.








We ended the evening by meeting with Ian again; I set up to pay Kai's rent through an electronic funds transfer from my financial institution to his financial institution. But before we did that Ian had to drive a potential roommate back up to his current residence; so I had time to talk to Brianna more. I found out her birthday and Kai's are 1 day apart! And they both like video games and movies. Which makes Ian very happy since he is not really a movie buff.

While we were running around yesterday, I picked up a box of Epic meat bars. I have found that all meat bars are not created equal; some have a lot more carbs than others. It appears to be coming from whatever is used to flavor the meat bar; like cranberries and honey. This venison bar is just sea salt & pepper so it only has 2 grams of carbs; it also has 12 g of protein and 3 g of fat. And I like the taste. Sadly, I have only seen it at Target; I shall have to look at Amazon and see if I can get it for around the same price or better (~$1.60/bar). I could use it as a substitute meal on the days when it is difficult to cut out the carbs from the Maunalani lunch.


Hauʻoli lā Hānau to Aunty Jeannie & Lillian!

Café Zippy

On Friday morning I met Darla at Café Zippy for brunch; Kai was supposed to meet us there but slept instead. Darla had a vegan muffin and I had the Greek Breakfast Burrito. I met the new "Zippy", who is actually named Beau; Marilyn was taking the weekend off so I did not get to see her. But I met Luke & Sophia instead; Luke is the cook and Sophia runs the front of the house.

Beau.

I then went to Susan's retirement celebration; my ENVS co-workers told me about it last week. I walked in and stood in the back near the door as Holly was beginning her speech about Susan. Both she and Susan were surprised to see me there! I saw a bunch of people there, starting with Vlad almost as soon as I stepped off the elevator! I also saw Ken & Dorothy (she's retiring soon also), Mike McC., Ryan L., Tom, Ryan C., Lori B., Terri I., Shawn, Bev, Kathy B., Suzie, Lori A, Jack, & Leroy. Susan's husband John was also there.

Kai and I picked up a new insurance card for his car; he couldn't find the one I had sent him earlier in the year. I finally got to meet Michelle whom I had only ever talked to over the phone. We also re-registered the Subaru; it is due by the end of September but you can pay it earlier, so we did.

We also ran errands later in the afternoon; we went to Office Depot again to pick up a bulletin board and push pins. Then we went to Target to get Kai a blanket; he had been using his duster as a blanket. We also got him a new suitcase.

On the Hotline phone, on hold!

Swiss Army suitcase?

We met Anne, Mary Kay, and Catie at IHOP for dinner. I had been told by The Roommates that I needed to try chicken and waffles; IHOP had a special chicken & waffle meal, the Signature Chicken & Bacon Cheddar Waffle. Kai and I got that meal, Anne had Belgian waffles, Mary Kay had the chicken dinner, and Catie had a vegetarian omelette.

Chicken dinner.

Signature Chicken & Bacon Cheddar Waffle. Not sure why The Roommates are excited about this meal.

We did so much yesterday that I was too tired to post last night, so I did it today.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau to Pam & cousin Yvonne!

Pop Pop Thai Street Food

I met Barb for lunch in Shoreline at Pop Pop Thai Street Food; it was half way between Barb's house and Mary Ellen's house. Barb had the Braised Pork Leg and I had the Garlic Pork; both of them were very good.

Braised Pork Leg.

Garlic Pork.

We met in Shoreline because I needed to be back at the house by 2 pm so that Celia from The Royal Cleaning Co. could come and clean out the bedroom and bathroom that Kai had been using for the past 2 years. He is not the best housekeeper; he is not even a good housekeeper. Which is why I was surprised that he asked me to buy a vacuum cleaner so that he could keep his room clean; I was glad to enable him to be a better (cleaner) roommate. Here's what it looked like after Kai cleaned out the big rubbish.





Celia was great! She did wonders with the rooms that Kai had been using. Here's what it looked like after Celia was done with it.





Kai came by after Celia left. We rented a steam cleaner so that he could give the carpet a very thorough cleaning before Kathy moves in. We want to minimize anything that might affect her speedy recovery!

My LifeProof Frē case for the S7 arrived today! Yay! I water-tested it to make sure it was watertight; it is! It is a relief to have a good case on my phone again. Ari said it was navy blue; that is true for the top half. The bottom half is turquoise and the accents are lime green; it is a very colorful case, not my usual black. At 30% off, I can live with it. On their website they call this color scheme Banzai Blue. Kathy said it was Seahawks colors!



This morning I did my birding around 9:15, the earliest I have birded on this trip. I saw a lot more species and numbers of birds than I have on the previous days during this trip, though not as many as when I walk at sunrise. Barb & I talked about what to do on my next trip; we will try to combine birding and walking by going to the trail at the UW Center for Urban Horticulture.

We ended the evening watching Arrival on the SyFy Channel. I really liked it; not only did it pass the Bechdel-Wallace Test, it was also about an alternate reality. I also really liked that the heroine was a linguist.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau to Diana!