Obsessive Much?

A funny thing happened at work on Friday. A call came through from an applicant wanting to check on some documents that had been faxed. Noticing his full name had come up on the caller id screen, I went ahead and looked up the application and proceeded to provide an update of what had been received.

"Wait, how did you know who I was, I haven't given you my name.."

After convincing him that we were not, in fact, practiced in the voo doo arts, I told him what he needed to know and sent him on his merry way. And it got me thinking about how technologically we are all connected today and how we all seem to have the need to be connected by technology.

And then I saw this article.

And I cringed, because I am, too, guilty of obsessively checking my smartphone/iPad during lulls in activity. Waiting for dance class to start, waiting for hubs to come back from the bathroom while out to dinner, waiting for friends to show up, and shh, while sitting in traffic or at a red light.  Like the article states, I too, like seeing personal emails from friends that have taken time out of their own busy schedules to say hey or getting a notification from facebook that someone has commented or liked my status. It's the new endorphin.

Then I got to thinking about how I see this everywhere.  I am, by nature, an observant, er nosy person. I am always people watching and seeing what's going on around me. When out to dinner, I will always comment to hubs about the couples that just sit there, not talking, not engaged. Literally, 30 minutes could go by and the couples that I have honed in on will not have said a word to each other. It seems now that not only are people not talking to each other, they're not talking to each other because they have their faces buried in their phones.
I, personally, just don't understand, why anyone would prefer the company of their phone over their date, friend, companion, etc.  Why go out at all? But enough of my soapbox ramblings. 


So, my internetlings, be honest. How many of you are also guilty of this new obsession?

My Weekend in Collage

My Weekend in Collage by Kimberlina13 featuring pointed shoes

My Weekend Collage

My Weekend Collage by Kimberlina13 featuring a scoop neck tank

Making Small Talk Out of Nothing At All.

Sometimes I wish that meeting new people was as simple as it was back in elementary school. You walked up to someone, asked if they wanted to be friends, and boom, BFFs. Why must adulthood always complicate the simplest of things? We've all found ourselves in the same situation at one point or another in our lifetime; stuck in a social setting where you barely know anyone and are forced to make small talk in the hopes of finding something in common so that you don't appear to be as socially awkward as you feel. For some, this is a piece of cake, they thrive off of it. Me? Not so much. Small talk and I just don't get along. I always feel that it's a waste of time because, half of the time, you don't really care to hear that answer to some mundane, common question that you've asked just to not have to sit in silence. And this is never more apparent to me than at parties where the only person I know is the person that invited me. Chances are, I'm never going to see you again in my life, so not only am I not going to go digging into your soul, I'd highly doubt that there would be anyone willing the bare their soul.

Case in point: For the Fourth of July, hubs and I were invited to one of my coworker's house for a party. After much internal struggle of wanting to be lazy, I sucked it up and we went.  It was like walking into the proverbial lion's den. I, literally, knew nobody there except for my coworker. After making sure that I wasn't breaking out in hives, my hostess introduced me to the guests that were already there: her parents and a couple who were occupied with chasing after their little ones. Sidebar: I guess being 30 minutes late wasn't "fashionable" enough. So, I saddled up with the 'rents. Weather, sports, and occupations were all taken care of in less than three minutes. And then silence. Awkward silence, as I desperately racked my brain to draw something from the past three minutes to expound on. Lucky for me, I married a man who could make conversation with a rock, and he quickly jump started the conversation. Whew, crisis sweats averted. I got even luckier when the party progressed and was just about split between those with children and those without, and since everyone knew just about everyone else, I was able to let them take the lead and throw my .02 when I had something to say.

I also find it highly interesting that because I am not a good small-talker, I have surrounded myself with people who flourish with it. And it's no mystery that if you're good at the small talk, then you're pretty good conversationalist in general. Whether it be the Hubs or my friends, I am more than willing to let them take the lead in conversations and start with the small talk to get the flow towards more meaningful conversation. So, if you're a good small-talker- wanna be friends?

Seattle's Best

The last time I was in this city was, gulp, 22 years ago for a wedding of my mom's cousin, and it seems that wedded bliss would bring us back. An old high school friend of my mom's son was getting married, and my mom graciously decided to take me along. 

The plan was for my parents to pick me up and then from my dad's office downtown, my mom and I would hop on Marta for the rest of the trip. They arrived bright and early at my house by 7am, and due to the amazing lack of traffic, made it downtown to the office in 16 minutes flat. Unprecedented. So, unprecedented that I texted Ryan with the news of this amazing feat. I'm sure he was rolling his eyes all the way in Paris. Yes, he was in Paris, again. Without me. Again. But I digress.

We made it down to the airport with no trouble, but this was not to last. The line at security was longer than I am used to, but moving smoothly. Once past the ID and boarding pass checker person, I made, MADE, sure that we would not be in a line with the body scanners. Not that I mind the body scanners, they just take longer to get through. Anywho, so my mom gets through the metal detector just fine and just as I am about to walk through, I get the evil eye and redirected to the body scanner. D'oh! As soon as I get through the body scanner and the all clear, I see another evil eye, and this time, the evil eye was accompanied by blue latex gloves. Pat down. Double d'oh. Not horrible, but I did feel like shouting out 'Stranger, Danger' a couple of times. Finally, after a weird fingerprint swipe, I was allowed to move along. 

Luckily, since we were departing from the A gates, we walked to the terminal and got settled in. I purchased my obligatory Starbucks and magazine purchases that is my airport ritual. And then it was time to board. Thankfully, we got on early enough to be able to put my mom's carry-on in the overhead bin that was right over us. So, I'm sitting there watching people get on, and the person that actually ends up behind me is someone that works in my office building. I had actually had a meeting with her earlier in the week. Small world. Finally, take-off. I have mentioned that I LOVE to fly? Take off and landings are my absolute favorite parts. I noticed that we would have to go through some cloud cover and anticipated a rougher take off than usual. Call me a freak, but I even enjoy a little bit of turbulence. Apparently, this was rougher than normal as the captain had to ask that the flight crew remain seated. This is what we had just cleared after the announcement.

Can I just say that the weather was probably one of my favorite things about the city? It's almost July and the high for our stay was 68. Sunny, breezy and no humidity. LOVE IT!

After checking into the hotel and changing for the night's activities, my mom's cousin took us down to the marketplace. On the way there she asked if we were hungry. Well, der. Look who she's asking. She then asked the golden question: Do you like macaroni and cheese? A woman after my own heart. So she guided us into Beecher's Handmade Cheese, where I got sample fresh curds, and she bought me a serving of their mac and cheese. My butter literally melted when I tasted what could only be described as heaven. 

I'll spare the details of what my mom and cousin got from the market for the faint of stomach, but if anyone has ever been to dim sum with my family, then you get the picture. We then walked around the marketplace, saw the flying fish people, and the flowers, omg, the flowers. They were absolutely gorgeous. Bright, colorful, and the best part, CHEAP. There was nothing over $25, but would have been 100+ here. We also saw the first ever Starbucks, which, of course, was beyond crowded.

We finished out our night with a dance recital that my mom's cousin's daughters were dancing in.

We got an early start the next morning, making our first stop at Starbucks. Then they took us to the University of Washington to take look-see, since I mentioned that if the school happened to be on the job market, Ryan would be interested in interviewing with them.

School of Business

School of Art

After the university, we stopped for lunch at, what else, a seafood place. Unfortunately, I forgot my asian-ness for a bit and didn't take a picture of my meal, but it was great. We then continued our tourist trek and went out to the Space Needle. We actually spent more time in line than at the top. I'm not a huge fan of heights, but can usually handle them pretty well. I did get a little weak kneed looking over the edge a couple of times.

After the Space Needle, we headed out to the cemetery to pay respects to my mom's Aunt and Uncle, and after that my cousins asked if we wanted to go see Bruce Lee's grave. Bruce Lee is buried in Seattle? Who knew. On the way to that cemetery, we stopped at this hillside park with an amazing view.

And finally, the reason for why we were in Seattle in the first place. Wedding! I heart wedding

And because this post is already taken too long to write and too long to read. I will end this very succinctly. Don't ever get in a security line at the airport where the person at the machine is "in-training". 

A great trip with great weather and great people! Thanks mom for taking me along!