Birthday Rain

Birthday Rain. That sounds like the name of a country music song, doesn't it? Today I awoke to rain and hours later it is still raining. This is a solid rain too. Loud, steady, heavy. It's crisp and dreary outside and, as usual, it is the perfect birthday weather for me. At this point I'm really not sure what my birthday plans are. Sad! Once you're over the age of about 21 it's not really so exciting anymore. Looking back, most years I can't remember what I did on my birthday, which means it was either really good or completely uneventful.

Last year was my last birthday in Seattle. I knew it at the time, even if no one else wanted to hear about it! I went to Red Mill burgers with some friends. (Mmm. Red Mill.) Prior to dinner I went to the gym. My gym at the time had a place where you scanned in your membership card. Apparently when you go to the gym on your birthday and you scan your card the computer plays the Happy Birthday song. LOUDLY. Everyone turned to look at me. I'm sure I blushed, it doesn't take much. I was forced to smile, shrug, and say, "It's my birthday!"

Hey - it's my birthday!

Already starting to crawl

Birthday week that is, not my baby. I don't have a baby. I do, however, have fresh birthday coffee that is nearly the size of a baby! (Thanks Mom!)


Nothing really happened today, the 2nd day of birthday week. I worked hard and that always feels good! I'm looking forward to seeing what the rest of the week has in store. The forecast is calling for rain and more rain, which is a great birthday present for me! Thanks weather!

Birthday Week Begins

Birthday week started out great! First, lunch at the infamous 12 Bones BBQ. You know, the place President Obama has eaten at twice?
Then a brief stop at a new location I am super excited about…and will return to…probably on my actual birthday…and many days after that. Back to work and THEN out to watch a few friends disgrace the game of ping-pong followed by dinner at another new locale. That is 3 new places I visited in 1 day! That is more socializing in 1 day than I have done in a whole month. The good news is, I am renewed and ready to get out there. The bad news is, my body was like, “Yo, what are you doing? You can’t eat out twice in 1 day. Here is a headache for punishment.” Then my debit card said, “Um, I know nothing was very expensive but I hope this doesn’t become an everyday pattern. Ahem.” Got it guys. I hear ya. But it’s BIRTHDAY WEEK!

My shame. The "to-go" boxes are clear so everyone around you can see just how much of your meal you did not eat.
Eric wouldn't pose by the sign. Even though it's birthday week. I was disappointed. Would have made for a better photo. Alas.

A cozy new look on a cozy morning

It truly is the coziest of mornings. The rain is coming down at such a pace to create a perfectly pleasant sound as it bounces off the trees. I do love living in the mountains. (If only those birds would knock it off so I could hear the rain even more...kidding...I kid...I love birds. I do.) I poured myself a vat of coffee so I could blog uniterrupted by coffee refill breaks. Now, under my covers again, I write.

When I first started Eme Ashe, which is how I seem to affectionately refer to my blog, I was working through my transition from Seattle. It really was about a huge life change and frankly, a break-up with my city. It was more about breaking up with the past than starting my future. Recently, I have found myself struggling to move on, engage, embrace that future. I had no urge to update my blog. I simply had nothing to say. I realized perhaps my blog just didn't fit my life or my voice anymore. Friday night, after work, I started making some changes and it only took a few minutes to conclude I was right. It needed a change. A fresh look. A fresh voice. So here it is!

Picking out a new blog template is like picking out a new husband - when you find the one, you just know (or so I'm told.) My first template was perfect (I mean, you must agree, no?) It was pretty, it was blue, it captured my move from a big city to a small town perfectly in graphics. I loved it and I instantly knew it must have been created intentionally for me.

Ok, the rain just turned to huge flakes of snow. Weird. I love living in the mountains.

I searched through hundreds of templates, not sure exactly what I was looking for. I did know that I would know it when I saw it. This is it. It is pretty, it is blue, it is hopeful. It is me in a new space, on new land, with nothing but beauty surrounding me. Also, and this is my secret, the new template is the perfect mate to my other blog. Yes, my other blog. The one I keep just for me. The one on one else gets to see. I can do that. I'm Eme Ashe. My other blog template is dark, with blues and purples, but has the same format and a similar graphic. Together and apart they are perfect.

I'm not sure just what my new blog will turn into but I'm willing to find out.

Ok, now it's just snowing. Maybe I should close my windows. Nah. Except...snow sounds quite different than rain. As in, completely different. As in, it makes no sound. Dang it. Now I can only hear the birds. Stupid living in the mountains and its elevation and whatnot.

Here are a few photos I took of the French Broad River after our record rainfall.

Under Construction

Please pardon the madness. After you get over the shock of seeing a new blog post of course. Eme Ashe is under construction! I am giving the blog a little makeover and editing HTML at the same time!

Have you ever edited HTML? I'm just playing around with colors and taking out a picture or something that I don't like from a template but man, I feel powerful. You make some changes, click save, refresh the page, and BAM - immediate results. I can see why coding is kind of exciting. (Yes, I did just say that.) I interviewed candidates all day for a technology position, that is probably what inspired me. I also just watched Dateline which detailed the current week of Charlie Sheen madness. Watching Sheen, working on my blog, and it closing in on midnight has made me tired. I'm calling it a night but made a lot of progress on my blog renovation. I'm excited for where it is going to go.

Stay tuned. To Eme Ashe and Charlie Sheen.