Putter-cation

We're on intersession in the Pacific Northwest. Most places call it Spring Break, but since we're on the quarter system and we just ended Winter Quarter, it's the intersession. I'm still not used to it, but it's not as foreign as it was last year.

Last break I took some time off and went to Portland. This year I took half the week off with plans to not do much of anything. I wanted three days where I could do whatever I wanted. I could be productive or lazy. I could make some day trips or I could park my ass on the couch. I wanted to putter. It's a putter-cation.

So... I spent Monday afternoon In Seattle. Most of my time in Seattle has been centered around downtown since it is easy to get to from the train station. But my iPhone makes it really easy to use Seattle's mass transit system, so I ventured out to the U-District for the afternoon. I was going to do some yarn shopping and meet K for lunch. I did make it to the yarn shop, but I cut my time short to catch up with K at Flowers and then met another friend for coffee at Cafe Allegro. This isn't a bad thing--I didn't need to spend the money, I like food and coffee, and I like catching up with people.

My next stop was the Public Market. I like the Market. Some Seattle folks avoid it because it is such a tourist destination, but on a Monday afternoon it is pretty low key. I didn't get there until almost 5:00 so some areas were already closed down. I tend to hit three places in the Public Market: Cinnamon Works (for vegan cookies), the Piroshky Bakery, and the fruit stand on the corner.

Cinnamon Works was closed. Too bad. They have these monster-sized cookies. Last time I was there I had a vegan snickerdoodle that was sooooo good. The Piroshky place was open but they were out of what I wanted: the apple cinnamon piroshkies. The woman in front of me bought the last two. I've been told that the apple cinnamon ones are vegan (if you eat honey, that is). This is one of those times I am going to take their word for it because the apple cinnamon piroshky I had last year was one of the best things I have ever eaten in my life. I don't go out of my way to eat honey. I don't buy it. And if I have two items--one with honey and one without, I go for the one without. But when I eat out, I will allow the honey. I know... It probably doesn't make me a true vegan in the eyes of some, but it's my life and my diet. Anyway.... I made it to the fruit stand, bought a tangerine and apple for the train ride home and headed down to King Station early so I could swing by Uwajimaya before the train.

At Uwajimaya I grabbed what turned out to be a damn good Vietnamese rice noodle and tofu dish from the food court. Seriously.... so good. It was simple: rice noodles, shredded tofu, a few veggies, and soy sauce on the side. I can't stop thinking about it. It was a dry, cool noodle dish. It was easier to take with me on the train than the soup version because I didn't have to worry about it getting cold, spilling it, etc. And, as I was clomping my way to King Station, I tripped on a crack in the sidewalk and fell on my ass. Well, technically, I fell on my side. I scraped up my calf pretty good. It was über embarrassing, but at least no one I knew saw me.

The last two days have been lazy. The weather has been amazingly gorgeous. I took care of a lot of things I have been meaning to: oil change, getting blood drawn for annual blood test, etc. I had an odd noise checked out on my car. Turns out it wasn't that odd; It was a normal sound that I didn't notice until now. And my blood test results were fine except that my vitamin D is so low I need to take prescription strength vitamin D for the next three months. Yippee.

So... I should be sitting out in the sun for my health, but today has been lazy: the gym, a few errands, a little spring cleaning.... Just stuff.

I left the flash drive with all the work stuff on it in my office. I rarely checked my work email and only responded to maybe three work-related emails. My putter-cation has been a rousing success. I need to do this more often.