Joining Costco

E had to get gas tonight so we drove to Costco. I think it was her sneaky way of having me pay for her gas. She said Andy bought her gas when he was out there. Hmmm. In the store she had me buy her a Seattle Crackens shirt. It’s Seattle’s recently announced new hockey team. On the way out I said she should consider getting a membership, at least for the gas, since the store is so close to her apartment. She needed up with the $120 Executive membership but got a $10 gift card on the spot (as did I for “referring” her for membership) and since she was approved for the Costco Visa they’ll send her a $60 gift card. At least with those promotions it brings the membership cost in line with the regular membership. It will be interesting to see how often she uses the membership. She also got a goodie bag for joining - a small bottle of water, trail mix and a granola bar. We were hoping for something grander.

College mail

L got a package from U of I today with this t-shirt from her college.

Back side.

She also got a Frisbee (makes sense with a Recreation, Sports and Tourism major) and a charger.

Seattle sunset

E and I decided to watch the sun set last night so we picked up some sandwiches at Homegrown in Kirkland and went to Marsh Park there for a picnic. I had a chicken salad sandwich and E had a chicken pesto sandwich. We were lucky to find a close on-street parking space and a little table where we could sit and eat.

Our view at dinner.

That’s Seattle in the distance.

Azula had another round of shots Monday so she’s cleared to be outside on grass. She was so excited to be out. Almost everyone who walked by commented on how cute she was and asked to pet her.

Ducks and the setting sun.

And as the sun set it became easier to see the Olympic Mountain Range.

That’s different

When E and I were in the grocery store I was surprised to learn that this short box of butter was actually a pound. All the butter was in flat packages, not the cube-shaped packages we have at home. Hmmm. I Googled it and found an interesting history on the Midwest Farm Report page (comparison picture from Wikipedia):

Due to historical differences in butter printers (machines that cut and package butter), these sticks are commonly produced in two different shapes:

The dominant shape east of the Rocky Mountains is the Elgin, or Eastern-pack shape, named for a dairy in Elgin, Illinois. The sticks are 4.8 inches long and 1.3 inches wide and are typically sold stacked two by two in elongated cube-shaped boxes.

West of the Rocky Mountains, butter printers standardized on a different shape that is now referred to as the Western-pack shape. These butter sticks are 3.1 inches long and 1.5 inches wide and are usually sold with four sticks packed side-by-side in a flat, rectangular box.

Both sticks contain the same amount of butter, although most butter dishes are designed for Elgin-style butter sticks.

Pizza with mushrooms?

E and I picked up a pizza from Papa Murphy’s last night. They sell all their large pizzas for $12 on Tuesdays so we got the create-your-own since we can’t agree on toppings. I had ground beef, pepperoni and mushrooms (which I never get at home) on my half and E had bacon, chicken, black olives and green pepper on her side. We could have had up to five toppings each.

And while eating dinner we continued our binge-watching of “Ozark” on Netflix. We starting watching on Sunday and are now on Season 2.

View of the Cascades

E and I have gone somewhere every day I’ve been here. Being cooped up in the apartment all day I think she needs the break to go drive and shop somewhere, pick up a tea or dinner. We were driving home the other day and I saw the Cascade Mountain Range. I’m not sure I’d be able to drive in Washington because I’d always be looking for mountains. The Cascades extend from Canada through Washington and Oregon and into California. Mount Rainier is the highest point. You can also see the Cascades from E’s rooftop.

Random Redmond

E has this baby gate up to keep Azula from leaving the living room. She only lets the dog out for about an hour every evening but tends to leave the gate up. It’s kind of hard to climb over. She said I’m going to have buns of steel by the time I leave. We’ll see.

Even the mannequins in Redmond Town Center wear masks.

I was making lemon chicken tacos and the cilantro got away from me. Oops.

Playtime with Azula.

I’ve been sleeping on E’s sofa and woke up one morning with her lying next to me. She was keeping an eye on Azula and takes her out for “boring walks” if she barks or whines.

More Azula

Portrait mode. E likes this picture.

Wanting to play or be petted? Both, I think.

Azula loves my socks. She looks guilty.

Azula does the sploot ... on the sidewalk ... during a walk.

Practicing going up and down stairs at the Redmond Town Center, right next to where E lives. Well, her building is part of the Town Center. Azula is better going up than down the stairs - just like me.

Lunch & dinner with a view

Today E drive us to Chism Beach Park in Bellevue, on Lake Washington.

This is the view of downtown Seattle from the park. You can see the Olympic Mountains behind the city if you look real close.

From there we went to Mercer Island on the other side of Lake Washington. We drove through McDonald’s for lunch and found a picnic table with a nice, relaxing view of the lake in Luther Burbank Park.

After lunch we walked a short trail to the beach. Huge houses and a few yachts around the lake.

For dinner, E grilled sirloins on the roof, along with the potato and carrot packets. Not a cloud in the sky. We had a good view of Mount Rainier and the Cascade Mountains.

L’s 18th bday party

I’m still visiting E so I missed L’s 18th birthday party. Her friends are great and she said she had a good time. She did a gambling theme party.

I’m sure I’ll hear all about it when I get home. They did try to keep the party outside to promote social distancing.

How sweet is this gift from her friend A? He also gave her 18 helium-filled balloons.

L was so excited to find this narwhal piñata for her party.

Looks like her friends enjoyed it.

Outlet mall shopping

It’s hard to not be home today. L is celebrating her 18th birthday with friends and the family is gathering for Matt’s memorial service. I was able to watch the service on YouTube.

E took me to an outlet mall in Auburn, Wash.

This play area was closed due to the virus but how cute is that? There’s a tree behind the Space Needle.

If I used oven mitts and if this didn’t cost $15, I would have bought the new recipe one lol.

Leaving the mall I had the best view yet of Mount Rainier. It looked so close. We were 35 miles from the mountain.

An ‘aha moment‘

It’s been kind of fun to be in the room with E while she works. I’ve heard how she presents herself on a variety of phone calls and seen her get frustrated. This was one of those “aha moments” when she figured out what she needs to do to fix the problem she’s working on.

And the other day she received a package in the mail from U of I. She was a little disappointed the tassel says 2020 since she graduated in 2019. She thinks the university mailed it out because everyone missed graduation. She said I can keep the Grainger engineer magnet.

Dinner on the rooftop

E reserved a grill on her rooftop for us last night. I made potato and carrot packets which she grilled, along with rolled flank steaks. We couldn’t get the first grill we tried to light. Took us a while to determine that it wasn’t working and to move everything to the other grill.

I had to toss my steak back on the grill for a couple more minutes but the potatoes were perfect, topped with cheddar cheese, of course.

The rooftop looks pretty much the same as it did when Andy and I visited in February. Furniture has been moved to promote social distancing and the plants are bigger than I remembered.

I wanted to get a picture of the sunset but we were done eating at 7:45 p.m. E said the sun won’t set till about 9 p.m. This is as low as the sun got for us. Maybe we’ll see the sunset another day.

Much-needed haircut

I couldn’t take it any longer. I haven’t had my hair cut since December and with the stay-at-home order that started in March I haven’t had a chance to get it cut. The salon I was most recently going closed during the pandemic. When I drove by a few weeks ago all the furniture was gone. I thought I’d be able to wait till I was home to get a haircut but my hair is too long ... and too hot. Fortunately, there was an Aveda salon, Origin Salon and Spa, near E’s apartment that had available appointments.

Her’s the after with lots of layers and texturing. Some special requirements — I had to wash my own hair at home before the appointment, went through a mini health check on arrival, had to wear a mask and pay a $5 personal protective equipment (PPE) fee.

Helping out

I didn’t intend to make E buy more stuff for her apartment but she was OK with the sink strainer and the shoe rack, so now I’m going for it. Lol. I bought a fan for her. The apartment is fine for most of the day but around 4 p.m. it gets really warm, for me at least. There’s no air conditioning because it usually doesn’t get warm enough to need it. I need something!

E’s BF gave her this Corgi calendar for Christmas. We bought some Command hooks and put it up. He’s moving in the day I fly back to Chicago so I think he’ll appreciate seeing it being used.

I got tired of washing my hands at her kitchen sink with dish soap so I had her buy some hand soap. Geesh.

E’s oven mitt was just on her limited counter space so we bought a suction cup hook to stick it out of the way on the fridge.

And we’ve stocked the fridge. We have meals for days! Quite a change from when I arrived. I’m pretty sure her fridge has never been so full. I’ve also started loading up her ice bin instead of painstakingly removing ice cubes one by one when I want them.