Lucy was 12 years old when she died. We got her when I was a Junior in highschool. My mom wanted an black boy scottie and we went to look at the puppies and couldn’t resist the little tan girl. I miss you Lucy and always will. My heart is broken.

This will look like a bucket list but it isn’t because that seems a little morbid and I don’t want to call it that. I also think it pretty much goes without saying that I want to do these things before I die because I can’t really do them when I’m dead right?? So I’m not going to call it a Bucket List. I think I’ll go with Salli’s List of Fun (SLOF). I feel like if I write them down somewhere they might actually happen. Here it is – the stuff I want to do. Also FYI only this isn’t a complete list and it is in no particular order.

Learn to surf
Learn to wakeboard
Go snow shoeing
Sing Karaoke
Go clam digging
Go to DisneyWorld (this one is a shocker huh? hard to believe I haven’t been there)
Win a jackpot on a slot machine
Be on a game show (preferably Wheel of Fortune or The Price is Right)
Go snowmobiling
Go jet skiing
Go parasailing
Run a half marathon
Bike the STP in 1 day
Live in a house on Lake Washington
Go fishing in Alaska

September morn we danced until the night became a brand new day… Anyone know that song? Ahhh a classic from your favorite and mine Neil Diamond. Well maybe not your favorite but definitely mine.

My inspiration for today came from Deborah the Great who suggested I write about September. So here it goes. Below you will find a list about my thoughts on the month of September.

1. September usually has lovely weather where I live.

2. I used to not like the month because it meant back to school. But really that was all an act (up until college) because I liked school.

3. Now I don’t even notice what month it is because I’m a contributing member of society. That’s right. I have a job.

4. September makes me think of apples and pencils. Must be that school thing.

5. Grandma’s birthday is in September.

6. If I were to associate a color with the month of September I would choose yellow. Don’t ask me why because I won’t tell. Actually I don’t know why.

7. September is the only month that starts with S. My name also starts with S so that is neat.

8. I’m not really sure what the birthstone for September is. Anyone?

9. Sept means seven which is strange because it’s actually the ninth month of the year. Apparently September is the seventh month of the Roman calendar. Thanks Wikipedia.

10. Ok I had to look it up. The birthstone is sapphire. That is my favorite non-diamond stone!

When people ask me what I do I usually try to avoid the question. Sometimes I try to come up with a witty response but normally I just say “I don’t want to talk about work”. I avoid the question because: I feel like it’s hard to explain what I do, the company name isn’t well known, what I do is nerdy, its not the most exciting job in the world, and did I mention that what I do is nerdy?

So here it is. This is what I do.

I am a Quality Assurance Analyst for a small software company in Renton that creates 3D design sales tools for closet and storage design.  Basically I try to represent the user and find defects in the program. I sit in front of a computer all day (actually multiple computers) in a cubicle looking for bugs in the software. I also spend time creating test plans and researching what new features are going in the version. It can be boring at times but I like the aspect of needing to be organized and detail oriented. Also its pretty exciting to find bugs – especially ones that crash the program, those are my favorite!

I started working at this company right out of college (6 years ago). I worked there for a couple of years and then decided I wanted to work for a larger company that had better benefits and the possibility to move up in the company. I ended up interviewing and getting a job in the IT department at Alaska Airlines. I worked on the Flight Operations team and worked on programs that helped dispatchers, plane weight and balance, delay coding and fun stuff like that. I loved working there and not just because I could fly for free! I loved everything about airplanes so working on software that supported the day to day operations was very exciting! In the year and a half I worked there I was asked about 3 times by my old company to come back and eventually the offer became good enough that I couldn’t refuse. Alaska counter-offered but my decision had been made.

It was a good move because I would have the ability to work a more flexible schedule as well as part time if we decided to have a family. So I went back. Going back was really good but really bad all at the same time. I was so sad to leave Alaska – I cried every day for weeks when I would drive by my old office.  It was on the way to work. I wasn’t stalking them. I promise. I am glad to be back to my old company though. I have more responsibility and love the applications that I am working on. It also worked out because now that we have a baby I am only working 30 hours a week.

I didn’t know how it would be to work and have a baby. I didn’t know if I would want to stay home all time time. I dreaded going back to work after my 12 week maternity leave. I was scared and didn’t know how I would balance work, baby, home, and life. Typical Salli-style I had a major meltdown. Typical Patrick-style he calmly and lovingly supported me and suggested that I should go back and try it for a few months and if it wasn’t working I could be done. There is childcare in my building so that was super convenient – Hunter just came to and from work with me and I could visit/feed him at any time during the day! I decided to work three 9 hour days in the office and the other 3 hours at home. (Actually now that I think about it when I first went back things were a bit crazy. There was a huge project that needed more of my time so I worked 40 hours a week for the first month. It wasn’t too bad and that told me that I was going to be able to make this all work out.)

Anyway if you were to ask me 10 years ago where I thought I’d be this wouldn’t have been it. I never saw myself doing a nerdy job. I never saw myself working by choice after having a baby. I never saw myself as someone that companies would want as an employee. I wanted to be a stay at home mom. Maybe at some point I will decide that staying at home is the right thing for me but right now it isn’t. The 12 weeks I was home on maternity leave were extremely difficult. That’s a whole different story for a different post.

Funny how life works out sometimes.

For most of my life I have wanted to go on a game show. More specifically Wheel of Fortune. I have no idea why. I’m not really that good of the puzzle solver, I think really it’s about spinning the wheel and the chance of winning!

I noticed that the Wheelmobile was coming to the Emerald Queen Casino so this was my chance! Patrick and I went down there and let’s just say it didn’t go well. At all. We headed down there and got in line. While in line we filled out applications and soon went into their big concert room and put or applications in a big bin. There was a tiny Wheel puzzle on the stage which looked kind of cute but a little cheesy. There were tons of people there and not the classiest group to say the least. We waited for people to file in and take their seats. Then the show started. The host guy and Vanna wanna be seemed like they had consumed massive amounts of caffine and proceeded to bounce (literally) around the stage to get people pumped up. It was nuts. They called names out of the big bin of applications 5 at a time to play a mini game on stage and kind of do a quick interview to see if they might be a good contestant.  The mini game they did was pretty much taking turns guessing letter (no spinning of anything) and seeing if they could solve the puzzle. The Vanna wanna be would write the letters to the puzzle on dry erase tiles. Classy. Probably about 30 people made it up total. I was not one of them and I was actually ok with it. I felt like the whole experience was pretty bad. It didn’t match what I’ve seen on tv for Wheel of Fortune. I don’t know if that’s because I was at a Casino in Tacoma or what. Needless to say we left really quickly. I was disappointed that the experience wasn’t better and it kind of made me not want to watch the show anymore.

Here are a few fun highlights of the people I saw there:

– drunk guy 2 rows in front of us who stood on his chair and tried to predict the prizes the contestants were going to win

– lady who befriended me in line who…

1. said that people named Salli bring her luck

2. was engaged but didn’t know if she was going to marry him

3. kept telling “jokes” and would proceed to hit me on the arm

4. said she wasn’t a gambler but said “oh where’s that slot machine with the pigs, I love that one”

5. said she had to go to the bathroom really bad and asked if I went pee all the time because I’ve had a baby

– lady who got called on stage who said she won the coat she was wearing and then when asked about it by the host couldn’t figure out where she won it, why she won it, and what the logo said

A little post about transportation related annoyances…

Planes – flying with the American public has to be one of the worst experiences ever. Here are some of mine:

– 6:30am flight to the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland) where girl behind us had stinky feet. She was wearing flip flops and would scoot her stinky toes in and out of her sandals causing the smell to move around. I almost vomited. Not the Happiest Flight on Earth.

– 6 hour flight to Kona HI where lady next to me ate massive amounts of Boston Baked Beans (the candy) and chips. She even did that thing where you lick your finger to dab up all the crumbs at the bottom of the bag. Yuck.

– Friday night flight to Vegas. 3 drunk hoochies. Almost denied boarding. Sitting right behind me. Enough said.

Trains – next time I’m getting a sleeper car

Seattle to Montana with Mom and Brother:

– person in front and behind snored all night. They didn’t even have the courtesy to do it in unison. They alternated so it was like one big constant snore.

– a mom traveling with millions (ok I think 3 or 4) really energetic/annoying boys who every time they smelled something funny would say really loud (and then each brother would repeat) “It smells like horse pucky”

– too many delays, we could have driven there and back in the same time it took to get there

Automobiles – apparently they don’t check to see if you have a brain before issuing a license

– people who drive 45 in the fast lane

– people who merge at 25

– people who don’t take a free right when they should

– currently my biggest annoyance is when the person in front doesn’t go when the light turns green. If you are in position #1 it is your job to have a rapid response off the line.

I’m pretty sure that I was born in the wrong generation. I was 20 years too late! I would have enjoyed living in simpler times… no cell phones, internet, and information about anything at the click of a button. Gone are the days of hunting through the card catalog at the library for the book you needed. The cars of the 60s were amazing (pretty sure I would have driven a ’65 red Mustang). I think most of all though I loved the music of the 60s. When I say love I mean love. I know the words to most of the songs and it really is my music preference. In our new car we have a free trial of satellite radio and I adore it. They not only have an all 60s station but an entire station dedicated to Elvis! It had made my drive to work much more enjoyable to say the least!

So I guess that maybe it’s a bit strong to say that I was born in the wrong generation but sometimes I feel that way.  Perhaps I will build a time machine (I’m sure I can find building plans on the internet) and head back to see what its like. The grass is always greener on the other side…