The Parable of the Poor Old Lady--according to Lauren and Kelly

Kelly:.says:
[diesel] he came back from ny
.....:Lauren:..... says:
uh huh
.:Kelly:. says:
w/ a new shirt for me and a t-shirt
.....:Lauren:..... says:
with a BIG gift?
.:Kelly:. says:
AND
.....:Lauren:..... says:
HAHAHAHAHHA
.....:Lauren:..... says:
NICE!
.:Kelly:. says:
no, he's not as rich as jay
.....:Lauren:..... says:
hahahahaahhaha
.:Kelly:. says:
but if you look in terms of percentage of salary
.:Kelly:. says:
it was like jay giving you a trip to san diego
.....:Lauren:..... says:
HAHAHAHAHAH
.:Kelly:. says:
it's like the parable of the old lady, ya know?
.....:Lauren:..... says:
too funny
.....:Lauren:..... says:
yeah totally
.:Kelly:. says:
in the bible, that she gave very little money to jesus?
.....:Lauren:..... says:
she gave half a cent
.....:Lauren:..... says:
but was a broke ass
.:Kelly:. says:
but jesus said that based on what she had it was a fortune
.:Kelly:. says:
TOTALLY
.....:Lauren:..... says:
which were millions in the eyes of God
.:Kelly:. says:
i can tell we are BOTH very RELIGIOUS
.....:Lauren:..... says:
AHAHAHHAHAHA
.:Kelly:. says:
you even know how much it was
.....:Lauren:..... says:
asian parents
.....:Lauren:..... says:
AHAHHAAH
.:Kelly:. says:
HAHHAHAHAA
.....:Lauren:..... says:
too funny

Scottish Lakes

This weekend, Tim and our friends Gabe, Leslie and Al went up to Scottish Lakes, which is on the other side of Stevens Pass. It is quite the trip, from a logistics point of view, as we had to drive up past Stevens, get picked up at the parking lot by some big trucks and then switch to snowmobiles, which took us up to High Camp (elevation 5,000 ft).

We stayed at this super ("super" being the word of the weekend) cabin, which had 2 sets of twin size bunkbeds, a loft, and a fully furnished kitchen downstairs. There was no running water nor electricity, just a woodburning stove, oil lamps and a bathroom outside, which we shared with all the other guests. There was also a very cool woodfire hottub, where much to our shock, we found four older women bathing in.

Other than that, the weekend reminded me of little house on the prairie, where we had to fetch our own water and firewood (we got it from the lodge, but still it was an arduous and long walk to the lodge in the snow), did dishes in bins, and had to wake up in the middle of the night to go to the outhouse.

On Sat morning we headed up one of the trails to go cross country skiing. Right off the bat Tim and I noticed there was something really wrong with the skis that I had borrowed from a friend: they were totally smooth and it was impossible to go up the slightest hill on them. Tim, being a much better skier than me (who have only been once before that), switched skis with me, and off we went, on our merry way. Merry, that is, for only 1/4 mile.

Between my lack of skills and Tim's smooth skis, we both became very frustrated and trailed behind the rest of the group. We finally managed to regroup on a medow with a much gentler slope that we skiied on for about half an hr. Fearing being shunned by our friends by our lack of skills and slowness, we decided to tell them right then that we would split up and go our separate ways. Tim and I followed the signs back to High Camp via Jirka's trail. That turned out to be quite a disaster.

Much to my shock, we looked down to find that to get home, we would have to ski down a very steep slow dotted by trees along the way. The trail was skinny and the journey disastrous. We came out of our little trip with skis on our backs and very sour faces. But we were alive, nevertheless.

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing Scrabble with Rick, one of the hosts at the lodge. Sat night we had a potluck dinner with the staff and the other guests, followed by a game of gin rummy. There was a group playing guitar and singing songs.

All in all, Scottish Lakes was an amazing place. It sounds cheesy, but I would even venture saying that it was magical: a little village high on a mountain, that sense of community and just a gorgeous view, whereever you looked.

Meet Ed Viesturs

Last Wednesday I got to see one of the most amazing Seattle, heck, world personalities. Erica, Brian, Diesel and myself went to this month's National Geographic Speaker Series to see Ed Viesturs.

I first heard of Viesturs after picking up Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air. The book has become a must for anybody who's interested in mountaineering and also became a national best-seller. It has also become one of my favorite books, partly because of Krakauer's storytelling, partly because the story of the 1996 tragedy where 8 people died trying to climb Everett is compelling and haunting.

Viesturs was eloquent, entertaining and yes, charming. He took us through his journey as the only American to climb all 14 8,000-meter peaks. His list of acquaintances reads like a mountaineering celeb book: Rob Hall, Scott Fisher, etc. I was truly amazed by his story as a boy in Illinois who, after reading Maurice Herzog's account of climbing Mount Annapurna, decided that one day he would climb it too. And so he did.

Last May, after two previous failed attempts, Viesturs summitted Annapurna. His journey was surrounded by a lot of buzz, and folks were able to follow his journey online, as it was covered by MSN Travel. Here are some links to videos he made during his journey:

Viesturs on the Summit of Annapurna
Avalanche Risk on Annapurna
Inside the Tent at Annapurna's Camp 2

Diesel Is an Asian Schemer

Being the good and honest white peep that he is, Diesel was often shocked at some of the Asian schemes I pulled to save some money.
However, I am proud to announce that some of that has been rubbing off on him. Today, when he took Drew to the aquarium, Diesel LIED about having THREE children, so he could save money by buying a FAMILY PASS.

Diesel Is an Egg

Seno once said that Diesel was a "good egg," but I call Diesel an egg for other reasons: white on the outside, yellow on the inside.