Tales in the Mist

No entry, no exit

2012-01-24T18:20:00.000-08:00

The thick ice was just too much for this poor tree to take.

The tree fell sometime in the middle of the night. Chuck had already been out to the store and when he came back he parked in a different spot, behind the cars. His truck is usually parked closer to the house, and the part of the tree that is in the bottom right corner of that frame would have landed right on top of the truck.

Our driveway was obviously completely blocked, so when Chuck left for work he drove out our back gate instead. After he was gone I looked out the window and saw a huge limb had fallen across the truck tracks in the snow.

So far those are the only trees we've found that have fallen, though I think there could be more in the forested area in front of the house. I kept hearing crackle sounds and thuds. Some of it was just heavy snow and ice falling from the huge fir boughs.

That tree is all cut up into fire wood now. It turned into a two-day job.

Ice, ice, baby

2012-01-21T11:14:00.000-08:00

After the snow came the ice. It was beautiful.

So it snowed. And I know for a lot of places that is very normal, but for this lower land near the water it's kind of a big deal. But the bigger deal came today when our ice storm hit. That is a pretty big deal no matter where you live.

Our electricity went out, then it was on again an hour or so later. And it went off again, then came on again, and did that most of the day. I am thankful we have a fireplace so we can stay warm, and gas appliances so we can still cook. But I'm really glad the electricity came back on.

It was beautiful out there.

When the clouds were emptied, another front came through and this time we got ice.

And since there's no place to go

2012-01-17T20:22:00.000-08:00

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
Our weather service predicts up to 14 inches over the next 24 hours, and high winds are expected as well.
I've been hoping for a big snow. This is a deadline week for me, so it could make life a little difficult if we get the predicted snow fall and our power goes out.

We get fierce winds this time of year. When Sean was really young we had a severe storm. I was trying to get him to sleep and was laying in his bed watching the wind bend the trees outside the window. I didn't realize what a big deal it was until the next day when we ventured out because we didn't have power, and we saw huge trees fallen into homes and across roads.

We're watching the news to see if school is in session tomorrow. Sean's school district doesn't always get the same weather patterns that we get here.

I love black and white photos, and snow.
Here are a few photos I found while I was browsing.
If I knew who the photographers were I would definitely give photo credit.

A hat, a boy and an attitude

2012-01-16T16:56:00.000-08:00

Is it possible to hate a hat? I do. There is a hat that my sweet 9-year-old boy loves to wear, but when he wears that hat he becomes a different boy. I hate that hat. I think it looks thuggish, and if there is one mission in my life it is to make sure he never becomes a thug.

Once that hat is on his head, my sweet little 9-year-old boy who still holds my hand in the department store, likes to sit next to me while we watch a movie and asks me to read to him, becomes aloof.

He not only won't hold my hand, he turns into a boy with no sense. He starts to talk about things that are ridiculous, topics that are irrelevant and sound like they are coming from someone who knows nothing about how the world works, and is generally unintelligent.

I don't know where he is getting this stuff, but I called him on it the last time he was wearing the hat. That hat brings all of this on, but I left the hat out of it.

Instead I confronted the behavior and the language and told him he sounded like a different person, someone who didn't make a lot of sense and didn't know all of the things he knows. I explained that he is really smart, knows a lot about how to build things, how machines work, he's good at math and writing stories, and has a great understanding of the world and people. But the way he was talking didn't sound right to me, it sounded like someone else.

He was quiet for a minute and then agreed with me that he does have a good grasp of how things work, and how to build things, and that even his friends think he is pretty smart. Then he launched into some information he had learned that day and started talking like he normally does, about his plans for his future and how he wants to start his own computer company.

He is growing up, and I am well aware that our lives will shift and change as he matures and no longer wants to hold my hand, receive a kiss goodbye from me, and generally believe I am the most uninteresting person on the planet.

Our family is blended, and blended again. We have children in their 20s, and the youngest is 9. I don't want to be one of those mothers that wants to keep the baby a baby, but I certainly don't want what he becomes when he puts on that hat.

Part of me wants to hide the hat, or better yet just burn it, but the logical part of me knows that wouldn't work. I have to confront the behavior, and next time he behaves that way I will share my observation with him about the hat and how he changes when he wears it.

How do you handle the hats, or shoes, or whatever triggers a change in your child?

Some attitude adjustments I found on the Internet
This little boy's hat is kind of cool.
I think my attitude would improve while wearing this Betmar Infinity Cap from Holland Hats.
Gotta love a man in an Irish cap.

I'm not getting paid

2012-01-13T22:50:00.000-08:00

I've been linking to a lot of company Web sites and such lately in an effort to share my little window shopping excursions on the Internet. It occurred to me that I should probably write a disclaimer and let everyone know that I have not been paid in any way by any of the companies, corporations or people mentioned in my blog. I've not gotten a check, an endorsement, a job, freebie merchandise, products, or anything resembling money from any of them. I'm posting the links just because I like to include some examples of what I'm talking about on my blog.
If a company decides to send me freebies, or anything else that could be seen as "hey, we'll give you this if you'll write about us," type of goods I'll disclose that as well.

Organized, finally

2012-01-12T15:46:00.000-08:00

Each time Chuck and I walk into Sean's room we make a comment to him about picking up his stuff and putting it away. When we come back it either looks the same, or the stuff is moved to one side of the room and sort of piled precariously between his bulging book shelf and his over-stuffed dresser.

The other night we both walked in and Chuck made a comment that Sean should pick up some of his stuff and put it away, and for some reason I suddenly realized he had nowhere to put it.

I don't know why it took us this long to figure out that the poor kid really had no place to put it all. In our last house we had a spare bedroom that housed all of his toys and drum set, and it was the toy room. He was required to keep it clean and tidy, and my mantra for he and his friends who entered that room was, "If I find it on the floor, it's going out the door--to the GOODWILL!"

We don't have a play room here. Sean has some special toys that have been given to him over the years, and some of them are large. Probably the largest is one of the Star Wars ships. It was on the floor the other night when Chuck and I were standing there surveying the mess.

In that moment we started to plan a way to get more storage for his stuff. I started looking for a bunk bed with drawers underneath, and Chuck planned for a few shelves that could be installed on his walls to house the larger trucks and bins of Legos.

We got a bunk bed from Craigslist today, but it doesn't have drawers. I found a place that sells the drawers separately and I hope we can make it work. Bunk beds like the one I wanted for him are really expensive.

The day after Christmas we hit the sales on storage bins and got a bunch for his smaller stuff and a couple of large ones as well. New Year's Eve day we went to get lumber for the shelving, and Chuck worked on measuring, trimming, sanding and staining them. They were installed in no time at all.

What a difference already! Sean walked into his room after his bath and was so happy to have a clean floor.

It's nice for us, too. No more stepping on Legos and negotiating over trucks and other vehicles.

From the Internet
Target has some inexpensive and pretty cool shelves.
I like this unit from Pottery Barn, but we needed something on the wall.
The Land of Nod has these cute shelves.

Moosewood is so good

2012-01-11T20:01:00.000-08:00

When I was in my 20s I worked at a vegetarian cafe. It was one of the best jobs I have ever had. I loved the people I worked with, absolutely loved my boss, and the customers were always pretty cool, too.

I never liked eating meat when I was a kid, but my parents forced me to eat it. I would pick at the meat on my plate and they would say, "eat your meat." I hated it. I vowed when I was a kid that as soon as I was grown and could choose for myself I would not eat meat. I especially did not like hamburger and cube steak.

True to my word, in my early 20s I became a vegetarian. I joined a book club back in the day, and when I joined I could pick several books for free. One of the choices I made was the Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant cookbook.

I didn't really use it for many years because the recipes called for some pretty exotic ingredients. I was living in an area that didn't offer much of anything exotic, except the little shop that catered to exotic dancers. But that's another subject for another day.

I made one recipe from the cookbook about 10 years ago. It was the mushroom pie recipe, which is found in the Finnish section. But for years I have carted that cookbook from one state to the next, and enjoyed just reading the recipes.

For the first time this year I've started to really use it. I LOVE it! Absolutely love it! Recently we were trying to figure out what to have for dinner and we didn't want to make a run to the store. We wanted to just use what we had in the pantry.

I had shrimp in the freezer and fettuccine in the cupboard, and I wanted some kind of white creamy sauce to go with it. I didn't have the ingredients for Alfredo, so I pulled out the Moosewood cookbook and threw together a sour cream sauce. It was delicious.

I've tried some North African recipes, Armenian, Indian and some New England recipes. I now live in an area of the country where exotic ingredients are readily available.

I have to toss in some meat for Chuck, but I am totally happy with the veggies and variety of recipes. I understand Moosewood has a lot of other cookbooks out there.

You can visit the restaurant if you're ever in Ithaca, N.Y.
Or you can go on a virtual visit here.

What's your favorite cookbook?

Goodbye Christmas, hello storage bins

2012-01-10T17:34:00.000-08:00

There was no star on top, but I placed this angel as close to the top as possible.

The big 18-foot Christmas tree was a thrill for our family, but I have to admit I was more than ready for it to come down. Our tradition is to ring in the New Year around the Christmas tree. Technically I would even keep it up until Jan. 7, since Epiphany is Jan. 6, but I have never been able to wait that long to take down the tree. This year the tree was getting really dry just before New Year's Day. I spent the better part of a day getting all of the ornaments off of it and placed back in their boxes.

For years I made do with unacceptable holiday gift wrap and decoration organization. But there was one year, and I remember it well, when I decided the old cardboard box that I kept the Christmas wrapping paper in was just not doing it for me. I kept it in the back of the closet, and the good thing about it was the wrapping paper stood vertical in the box, but the exposed ends were all tattered, making those ends unusable.

I surveyed the disarray of bows, ribbons and tape, and I decided it was time for a change. Those things could never be found in the same place twice.

With determination and a blank check I made my way to the nearest retailer that sold storage bins. No matter the cost, my Christmas stash was going to be organized.

I still have all of those bins. I bought a smallish one with wheels, a really long one for the wrapping paper, a small pullout drawer for ribbons and tape, a few medium sized ones that varied in depth for the gift boxes, tissue paper, and gift bags.

The one bin I'm not really thrilled with is the wrapping paper box. I want a vertical one. The box I have keeps the paper relatively nice, but the rolls lay flat and the box is very unwieldy.

And for the ornaments? Well, see, I'm a recovering ornamentolic. And I'm particular about how some of them are stored. Actually, most of them. If they came in a box, I keep them in their original box. I have some Hallmark ornaments-- yes, OK, I have more than "some." But they were on sale! Those aren't the only ornaments I have. I do not discriminate. If I love it, I love it. (There was a time, not too long ago, that I had three trees in my house. One tree was all Santa ornaments, one was miniature with miniature ornaments, and the main tree...OK, I said recovering.)

I have really big bins for the ornaments. One main bin holds all of the ornaments that have their own box, and there are a couple of other bins that hold the ornaments that are wrapped in bubble wrap and tissue paper. I carefully pack them all away when we take down the tree, and I store them with love and care until I get the thrill of hanging them on the tree again.

And the beautiful thing about all of this is that Chuck understands. He really does. He loves everything Christmas. He spent a lot of time out in the cold in order to get the lights on the roof. I called him Clark on a couple of occasions, but I am really happy that he enjoys the season as much as I do.

And we wrap our lights in a similar way as well. No tangled lights here. I wrap them up kind of like an extension cord, and then I tie mine with a strong ribbon or corded ribbon. Chuck uses zip ties. It's the man version of a ribbon.

What storage methods do you use for your treasured Christmas ornaments and other decorations?

From the Internet
Which storage container do you prefer? This type or this one?

I couldn't resist sharing this catalog of ornaments...

And then there are these storage options as well.

Forest medicine

2012-01-09T21:37:00.000-08:00

A walk is sometimes the best medicine. Last week was challenging for me, so on Saturday I took some alone time and walked through some cute little shops to look at pretty things. And on Sunday I had a bit of a stress headache, so we went for a walk in the forest. And life was good again.

Happy Weekend!

2012-01-06T20:43:00.000-08:00

I like the blues in this a beautiful picture of snow in January. I found it here, posted by Kenneth Randolph Taylor. We haven't had even a skiff of snow yet this season, and we are all starting to wonder if we will get any at all.
Wherever you are, I hope you are having a cozy weekend.

Here are a few other things I found around the Internet.

Check out these groovy leggings by Snow Angel.
These snow boots are sporting some toggle action, and I do love a toggle.
A bit pricey, but isn't this little snowsuit adorable?

It's the details

2012-01-05T11:52:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time I used to write about home decor and all manner of things that go with a home. I wrote story after story for a home and garden section of a newspaper, and I loved writing for that section. (The company is a different story, but I'll save that subject for another day.) I had always admired linens, plates, stem ware, napkin rings, and just about anything that would go in a dining room or on a dining table.

I definitely feel very comfortable, and experience a calm feeling, when I hold an individual salt spoon or touch a fine linen table cloth. The idea of setting a table for guests that includes place card holders, exquisite napkins and plates of all sizes stacked on a charger just seems like so much fun.

I have already confessed to Chuck my obsession with dishes. We don't have space for more, and it's a good thing. I could go nuts with china and dishes. I once wrote a story about a house that had a whole room for storing china, and the original owners had their own pattern. I was in awe.

Part of me sees it as excessive and unnecessary. Part of me loves all of it because of the details. For me there is such fun that can be had choosing patterns of china that enhance another, the finish of the flat ware, the colors of a table runner, and design of the napkin rings.

I was feeling a bit gray the other day. I hadn't had a bad mood descend upon me in a very long time, and I don't know why it hit so hard. I've had some extra stress lately, and maybe it was just the combination of that and the constant rain lately. It rained, and it was so dark all day.

I had to return a book the the library, and I decided I was going to take a short break for myself and walk around some stores I had never been in before. I started out going to look at sweaters at Loft, but I didn't see any great deals there. And I do shop there, so it wasn't new to me.

Loft is located in a little shopping area across the street from the library. In that same area are many shops that I haven't visited, and I darted into one to get out of the rain. It was a little boutique with a lot of jewelry and Asian trinkets. I tried on some huge rings and looked around for a few minutes. Nothing there I would use, though.

Right next door was a kitchen store. Oh, wow. It was just what I needed. I hadn't been in a store with such a selection in a long time. There were many styles of individual salt spoons, little individual salt cellars, chargers, napkins, table linens, china, and all sorts of kitchen essentials. I didn't buy anything, but it did the trick for my mood. I came out of that store feeling inspired and rejuvenated.

What lifts your spirits when you're feeling down?

A virtual shopping trip from me to you:-)
Oh, no need to pass the salt. I have my own.
And one more set
I like these napkins
Love these Italian china patterns

Movie review and a zoo

2012-01-04T12:51:00.000-08:00

Most nights we are right here at home eating a home-cooked meal and doing chores, like laundry and picking up toys off the floor. We often rent movies from Red Box, or Netflix, but don't go out to movies very often.

The kids got movie tickets and a book of coupons for MacDonald's for Christmas from my aunt Bennie. They were pretty excited about it. So I suggested we take them out for dinner and a movie one night last week. It's always a challenge to get the kids to agree on a movie, so Chuck and I kind of chose it for them without asking.

I looked online to see what was playing and the only one that looked like a good family movie was "We Bought a Zoo." Animals are always fun.

When we got to the theater there was quite a crowd. Lucky for us it was not sold out, but we forgot that our theater is a Galaxy theater and the tickets they had were Regal. Oh well. Chuck and I had a free pass for two, so we just paid for the kids to get in. Our Galaxy theater is great. It's fairly new, and I love the comfortable seats, the drink holders and the way the seats are positioned.

The movie was based on a true story, and for me the plot was not predictable. (Something I can't stand these days.) There was real emotion in the story, and I liked the fact that though the main character (Matt Damon) was surrounded by women who wanted to "help" him get through his grief of the loss of his wife, he didn't take them up on the offer. I aslo loved how the movie showed him grieving, and how his children were grieving. But it really isn't a sad movie, it's a fun movie about hope and change and how to persevere when you have a dream.

I'm not sure where he got his money. He was a reporter. I didn't really like the ending, but over all I thought it was a good movie.

Here's a review of the movie.
Here's one opinion of the 10 best movies of 2011

Do you have a favorite 2011 movie?

I win!

2012-01-03T10:56:00.000-08:00

Have you ever filled out one of those little slips of paper with your name and contact info for some kind of giveaway? I've done it so many times. These days I find some giveaways on blogs, and I usually enter those if it's an item I would really like or use for a gift.

As we left the Stable Cafe after lunch at Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, there was a table with a pretty red bowl and those little "enter and win" forms. On a whim I filled out one and dropped it into the bowl. Chuck saw what I was doing and he filled out one, too.

We left and I didn't think much more about it, because I rarely win anything. In fact, I really can't remember winning anything from an, "enter and win" contest.

We had been home a few days when I received an email from Biltmore Inspirations to let me know I had won the bowl. I was so excited! I plan to use it in many ways as a centerpiece during the holidays.

A little gift package of stuff I found on the Internet :-)

Get inspired

I love this set of mixing bowls

This serving bowl is so pretty.

Welcome 2012

2012-01-02T13:45:00.000-08:00

Our 2011 was amazing. We are so excited about what 2012 has in store for us. We know that no matter what, it will be great because we are together.

Here are some highlights from our year:

In February Sean and I celebrated Valentine's Day with Chuck over dinner at the fire station. Doesn't sound romantic, but he was working and it was so great of him to invite us to be there.

Chuck and I had a couple's night out in March and saw Tom Kimmel at a house party. Great fun.

In May we had another adult night out and saw Desmond Tutu at the Tacoma Dome. It was inspirational and such a treat to see him.

In June Chuck took us on an adventure and we saw the Nevada desert for the first time.

In July we had a date night. (I know that for most this is not a big deal, but for us it really is.)

We celebrated Sean's birthday in August, and we welcomed our neighbors for a barbeque, and some of Chuck's family visited as well.

In September we enjoyed the harvest of some blackberries and some of our garden veggies. It was fun to see the results of our first attempt at a garden, and to have time to create some tasty dishes in our kitchen.

October was my birthday month, and Lilly's. We went on a mushroom harvest adventure and also began picking some of the huckleberries. We all made some jelly and syrup from the huckleberries, and enjoyed huckleberry pancakes as well.

November was our one-year anniversary month and we had family photos taken here on the property.

We finished off 2011 with a trip to Tennessee in December to see more of our family members and enjoy some Southern goodness. And this was my absolute highlight of 2011, because for me it is really all about family and having as many shared moments as possible.

Happy Weekend and New Year!

2011-12-30T11:15:00.000-08:00

Wouldn't you love to cozy up to a fire in this cabin and watch it snow? Some years I want a quiet New Year's Eve, and other years I've been with large crowds of people. This New Year's Eve will be a quiet one at home with my wonderful partner and love of my life, and our children. There will be snacks, sparkling cider, music, and parents slow dancing in the living room as we ring in 2012.

However you choose to ring in the New Year, please do it safely. May 2012 be your best yet!

A few gifts from me to you :-)

A fun centerpiece

A little bit of brotherly love from my childhood, and a Coke

And isn't this dress the cutest?

Is Santa to blame?

2011-12-29T13:39:00.000-08:00

Is Santa to blame?

When I was younger the day after Christmas was so anticlimactic for me. I would feel depressed once the presents were opened and the excitement of preparing for Christmas was over.

Decorating the house and the tree, shopping for the perfect gifts, choosing the wrapping paper carefully for each person, putting the perfect bow on top of the package, and drinking in all that is Christmas was so exciting. I just loved all of the activities that led to Christmas morning.

I was never disappointed in the gifts, and never put a lot of focus on what I was or wasn't getting. It was more about having this big event to look forward to and get ready for, and then it was over.

I haven't felt that disappointment in a long time, but I still feel a little out of sorts.

I don't know if it was the commercialism that created this problem for me, but I've had discussions with some of my friends about what we call The Santa Dilemma. As parents should we promote the whole Santa thing? I love everything Christmas, and the magic and wonder of it all still gives me a thrill. But the "begging" of gifts from some strange old man does seem a bit weird when I step back and look at it from a detached point of view.

Of course it was never about Santa, really, but we live in a very materialistic culture. As a child it is hard to distinguish what the real meaning is when we are bombarded with the commercialism of the holiday. As I've gotten older I know that Christmas morning is really just the beginning. It marks a major event for Christians, and it is the beginning of hope, not the end.

I finally realized yesterday while I was talking to my chiropractor that it's the break in routine that has me feeling a little dull. I'm a person who needs a routine. While I do like a break once in a while, I don't do well when my whole routine is thrown off for an extended period of time.

We were gone for a week, Sean is out of school, work is different during holiday breaks, and our daily schedule is all out of whack. We're staying up later, getting up later, eating at different times and eating so much junk. Ugh. I can't even stand the thought of another sugary "treat."

This is the time of year when a lot of people get depressed. My dulldrums will disappear as soon as we get back into the swing of the daily grind, but for some it is not that easy.

How do you deal with holiday stress, disappointment, or the break in your routine?

Here's a little gift from me to you :)
How about a virtual trip to a museum?
Click on one of the bars in one of the periods and it will take you to the composer and a button to play the piece. Hope you enjoy it!

Or a little help from the floral department
This could also brighten your day.

Oh, Christmas tree

2011-12-28T16:39:00.000-08:00

Once we returned from Tennessee it seemed like we had to kick everything into high gear to catch up to Christmas.

I'm used to having a tree up the day after Thanksgiving because I have used an artificial tree for so many years. I think the last time I had a real tree was the first year I was in Sacramento, and that tree was sad. It dried up within a couple of days.

Chuck always uses a live tree. We knew we wanted a live one, and a fairly tall one.

We had our eye on a tree that has to be taken down at the fire station, but decided we should also look at the local tree lot. We have bought some small starts from this guy and are growing our own, but they won't be ready for another 4 or 5 years.

So off we went to the tree lot. It was a little late in the season to choose a tree-- actually Dec. 21. I was thinking in the range of 10 foot tree or so, but the only tall ones were really tall, and the kids ran to this particular tree and decided it was "perfect."

The kids decided this was the one.

This is a you-cut lot, so we brought the chainsaw with us. There were a few men there who helped drag it to the truck and load it on the back. The tricky part came when we got it home.

It's so large I couldn't get the whole thing in the shot. Our ceilings are 24 feet, and this tree was probably
that tall when Chuck cut it. He sliced off the bottom limbs. We measured it and it's 18 feet.

It was too large for our tree stand, and we had to call around to find a place that had some of those big plastic ones. Our local Cost Less Pharmacy had some. So convenient.
Chuck took the base and I took the top and we got it inside. Once it was in I started up the stairs with the top and Lilly helped until it was steady and Chuck had it straight. He also stabilized it with boards and secured it to the staircase.

We used a ladder for decorating a lot of it, but also had to decorate on a chair
from the top floor. No star on top. We couldn't reach it.

It is a beautiful tree. I don't think we'll get one this big next year, though. It blocks our view of the television, makes our path through the living room a tight squeeze and also blocks the hallway a little. We do love it, though. And the sort of sick thing is we had enough ornaments to decorate it, and even had some left over that we didn't use.

I do love ornaments, and I have a hard time getting rid of any. They all have a story and as I unwrap them and place them on the limbs I get to relive some of those memories.

Whether it was a gift, a buying spree with Karen when Hallmark had 75 or even 90% sale, or it was a special ornament that I bought for a family member, I do love the memories.

Chuck and I joked that if you're looking for a fancy tree with a theme, ours is not the tree for you. Ours is all about memories and family. Hand-made ornaments, some the kids made at school, photo frame ornaments, and some that are really fun and move or sing.
We love Christmas. I hope you do, too!

Trip to Tennessee

2011-12-26T21:03:00.000-08:00

We recently returned from a trip to Tennessee to visit with family and a few friends.

We flew from Sea-Tac to Atlanta and spent the night with my friend Karen and her family. They were so nice to welcome us in and give us a place to stay. I hadn't seen her in five years, and it was the first time I had met her children Kate and Isaac. We were up and out of there early, but spent a little more time with them on our way back.

I'm really not a food person, but I had been missing my favorite eating spots. We loaded our bags into the rental car and headed for the nearest Chik-fil-A for breakfast on our way out of Atlanta. Oh, how I miss me some good Chik-fil-A. I started my day with the drink of Southern champs, sweet iced tea.

We arrived in Asheville, N.C. around lunch time. We walked around town a bit.

Then we walked to Pack Square and had some lunch at Bistro 1896. It was really tasty.

We stayed at a bed and breakfast that has llamas, and it was a really nice time. Turns out the couple running it attend the church I attended in Elizabethton when I lived in the area. The bed and breakfast is in Jonesborough, the oldest town in Tennessee.

We unpacked our bags, said hello to the llamas and then made our way to Jewel and Bjorn's. I couldn't wait to see them, and to give Parsla a big squeeze.

Parsla had never met Chuck, but she took to him right away. I was so happy to have her walk to me and let me scoop her up. I've watched her grow this year, thanks to Skype.
We had a great time with David and Grace, too. We all went out to eat some Asian food one night, and I took Chuck to Poor Richard's, which is now called Uptown Deli or something like that. It's still Poor Richard's, though. Same food.

About mid-week we took a trip back over to Asheville to see the Biltmore Estate. It was beautifully decorated for Christmas. Chuck had never been, and I knew he would love it.

While we were there we ate at the Stable Cafe, and also stopped off at the ice cream shop for some fresh Biltmore Dairy ice cream. Oh, it is really good. It's a good thing we don't have it here because I don't think I could resist it.

I love this picture.

Sean was a little restless with touring the house, so we took a break and ran around outside on the grounds for a while. He enjoyed these fish, and a walk through one of the garden areas. The temperature was amazing-- about 62 degrees. Sure didn't feel like December in North Carolina to me.

David and Grace checking out the menu at The Dining Room, Jonesborough.

The kids met us in Jonesborough one afternoon and we walked around town to see some of the sights. We had a great lunch at The Dining Room, and I highly recommend it. (They didn't give me anything free or pay me to say that. We all agreed it was very good.)

I always try to get a photo of Dave and Jewel together when I can. Sometimes they're goofy.

Sean really enjoyed his role as uncle. He pushed Parsla in her stroller around Jonesborough.

The Lollipop Shop was a neat little place with nostalgic items. There was an old metal pedal fire engine, and some new ones as well. Couldn't resist this opportunity for a photo.

We were impressed with this private residence in the middle of town. I would love to see the inside.

I spotted this vehicle before I saw the office across the street.

Must be some paranormal activity in the area.

First abolition publications were right there in Jonesborough, Tenn.

For a long time I couldn't get Sean to pose for a photo, and now he has hit the "make a weird face," stage. My dad met us at Taco John's our second day in town, and he took the guys to the shooting range. Sean loves going, and had been asking if Papaw would take him there again this year.

Sean, Dave and Jewel at breakfast the day we were leaving. We all met at the Cracker Barrel in Johnson City.

Family shot at Cracker Barrel.

Parsla loves to push things around, so this doll stroller was a favorite in the Cracker Barrel store.

On the road again, headed for Atlanta.

Once we got to Atlanta Sean, Kate and Isaac bonded over some computer time.

They also enjoyed making some paper airplanes with Chuck.

Sean took my camera and followed Kate and Isaac around the house for a while. He got some good pics.

Karen and I left the kids with the guys and headed for the local Goodwill, and then the Lenox Mall. We didn't buy much, but we had a good time looking around.

Next morning we were dragging our bags back to the airport headed for the Pacific Northwest.

December events

2011-12-24T13:30:00.000-08:00

Every year there is so much going on in December.

Though we didn't attend any Christmas parties this year, we still had a lot going on.
Chuck is the Master of Ceremonies for the community Christmas Tree Lighting. This happened the first weekend of December. It was a busy weekend, and we were working at home up to the last minute before we were scheduled to be there prior to the 4 p.m. start time.

Sean was with his dad, but Lilly was here. It was pretty chilly that day, but clear. There wasn't much to do, except hand out the song list to the crowd. We all (probably a couple hundred people) stood around and sang Christmas carols just before sundown.

Dr. Roes Down Home Band led us in the old standard songs, and there was hot cider and cookies.
The tree was lit and then Santa arrived. The kids visit with Santa in his sleigh, and then the fire department pulls him through some neighborhoods. He has a busy schedule visiting a neighborhood or two each night during the month of December.

The tree is so large now the electric company
comes with their cherry picker truck to help
decorate a week or so before the lighting.

The Grinch made an appearance and Chuck received a small bottle of Tobasco sauce from him.

Birthday celebration

2011-12-23T15:28:00.000-08:00

Sean chooses helpers during his
birthday celebration

Montessorians celebrate birthdays a little differently in the classroom. The birthday child holds a small globe and walks around a candle symbolizing the sun. They walk around it once for each year they have been alive. Parents share a little bit about their child's life and what they were fond of or major events that occurred each year of their lives.

We were getting ready for our trip to Tennessee, but I wanted to be sure that Sean had a great birthday experience this year. His birthday occurs just before school starts, and things are so hectic with the start of school that we rarely have been able to celebrate. A lot of kids have September birthdays in his class this year, and October was busy, too. His teacher said there were no November birthdays, so we were shooting for that, but then Thanksgiving came, and there were teacher conferences as well.

Though his birthday is in August we celebrated in December with his class.
He was really excited about it, and I tried to make sure that I did it well and with thought and intention.
The form had a space to fill in the birth date, weight and length. It also had a space to write something for each year.
"When my child was one year old he/she liked to_________"

He walked around the candle and then I told the story of his life. To personalize it a little more I explained that his name means something and that was how we chose his name. Sean means God is gracious, and I talked about his middle name as well.

Instead of launching into his 1 year info I improvised a little and told about his baptism when he was 8 months old, and then started to talk about each year. I brought pictures of him in his baptismal gown, and from each year of his life and showed them while I talked.

I included that when he was 5 he had some sad times because that was the year we had to say goodbye to Nanna. All of the kids reacted with a sigh. One of them came up to me afterwards and asked why we had to say goodbye to her. I explained that she died that year.

When we finished with his life story he chose some helpers and served cupcakes to his classmates.

Sean gets some help from his friends with his
birthday cupcakes.

We packed a lot into that day because Meag had asked me to come talk to the class about how writing is used in the real world with newspapers.

I brought examples of our proofs with the marks all over them and explained how each story is read many times and then the proof pages are also read many times by different people. I showed them some stuff on the computer, like the Word track changes feature and how we use that. I explained how the stories get corrected and changed, so that what was originally written is revised, sometimes several times. I brought copies of our newspaper and answered a LOT of really smart questions they had for me. A lot of them were about what I do as an editor, and I told them all of the various things that are my responsibility as an Executive Editor. They were all so attentive and interested. It was hard to believe I was talking to a bunch of first, second and third grade children.

One asked how much I get paid. I softened it a little and just said I work for a non-profit newspaper, so the goal is not to make a lot of money, but instead to provide a service for our community. I didn't want to spoil the mood and tell them to forget journalism if they want to make a living wage.

Conference Time

2011-12-01T21:33:00.000-08:00

The bead cabinet.
Photo by Sean

Today was conference day with Sean's teacher. (I'm writing this to have a record for myself, just in case you are stumbling onto this blog and wouldn't want to read this post.)

I so love his teacher, and his school. I love the Montessori method, and today was one of those great Montessori moments.

Sean is a "third year", meaning he has reached the final year in his classroom. He is a third grader. He has mastered a lot of the materials the younger children are working with, and has moved into a leadership position. In fact, Ms. Diamond said he frequently helps the younger children, or others who are also third years. When she asked him who his friends are this year, he said, "everyone, really." She told me he really has stepped into a leadership role and seems to have a good relationship with everyone in the class.

Ms. Diamond began the conference by asking him how he felt things were going with his writing. He said he feels it's going really good. She acknowledged that he has had an explosion in writing this year, and contrasted how he approached the work last year.

She asked him what his goals were this year for his writing, and he said he is working on a chapter book and his goal is to write 30 to 60 pages. (I felt my heart swell, I admit.) She asked how he chose those numbers as a goal, and he said, "Most chapter books are longer than 60 pages, but this is the first time I've ever written a chapter book, so I think I should start with less pages." Ms. Diamond agreed that when we do something for the first time we have to allow ourselves some leniency.

She suggested some areas he could work on to challenge himself, and penmanship is one. He writes small, and she suggested that he write and draw his pictures larger so the reader can focus on the content of the story instead of the work it takes to read the small print. Sean acknowledged that one of his friends frequently says he can't read his writing because it is too small. He said he writes small to save space so he can write more, but agreed to try to use the lines on the page to form his letters larger, what they call the head line, foot line and butt line.

From there we moved to reading, and she shared some scores with me. He is reading at standard, but when she assessed him with another tool she said it seems he is reading above standard, which means he is reading at a higher than third grade level. She suggested he continue to choose the "good fit" books and challenge himself. "Good fit" books are books that he can read on his own, that he understands most of the words, but are also a little challenging.

As is common with Montessori students, Sean has had that writing explosion and almost focuses exclusively on writing and reading. I know from experience with homeschool that this will likely change as the year goes on, but she looked at his work plan (the students write their own weekly work plan) and asked that he spend some more time on math. She suggested that he begin the day with writing, but put a time limit on himself so he saves time to work on math each day as well.

The work plan folder.
Photo by Sean

The fraction work I wish I had here.
Photo by Sean

Some of the areas he can work on are fractions and multiplication. Ms. Diamond suggested we use some real life problems to work on this, including slicing apples and such. "Would you like your apples sliced into fourths?"

Then she went over his goals for himself, and the things we would like to see him work on as well. To watch this exchange was amazing. Sean actively participated in this conversation and gave complete answers and explanations about his work and his goals for himself. He asked her for extra packets of math to take home to work on. It will be great, since we still have some of the materials here. We have the box of beads and the stamp game, which can be used with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. I wish we had the fraction boards, but I can make some with Chuck's help.

I was so proud to watch him participate in a serious conversation about his plans for his own education this year, and to hear what his goals are for himself. He is so supported and loved there, and the responsibility is put on the student. There is no brow beating or ridicule, or accusations, or demands of "why didn't you complete this work?" or "What do you have to say for yourself?" type of energy there. No threats of, "If you don't do the work you're going to fail."

Because the student has written his/her own work plan (with guidance in the beginning, of course) the responsibility lies with the student to be sure that work plan is carried out. Once the work plan is completed they are allowed to do "other," which is free choice.

Sean said his favorite free choice is origami.

He has become so mature this year. I love watching the transformation. He has always been a great kid, but today I saw a different side of him.

Family 2011

2011-11-23T17:20:00.001-08:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly photo books offer a variety of layouts and cover options to choose from.

Anniversary and a photo session

2011-11-23T15:36:00.000-08:00

Sunday marked our one year anniversary. It is amazing to both of us that it has been a year already. In one way we feel like we've known each other and been together for many years, and then again the time feels short.

It was a very romantic day in many ways, but we didn't really do anything as a couple. We didn't go out, and we didn't have much time alone. I was dealing with deadlines for work, and we had the kids.

Earlier in the week we had been talking about Christmas and Christmas cards, so we decided to have some family pictures taken for the cards. I called my friend Scott Turner who is a professional photographer. We had both kids here on Sunday afternoon, and Scott was available, so it was perfect timing.

Scott came to our house to take the pictures. There is plenty of room here and so many areas on the property that are perfect for pictures. We had such a great time. At first the kids were a bit reluctant, but they eventually warmed up. We did some inside shots at the fireplace, some outside, and he had us in different settings and poses outside.

We love all of the pictures, and we have finally chosen our favorite for the Christmas card this year and put in the order with Shutterfly. Here are some of our favorites from the photo session.

Big machine, tiny little berries

2011-11-19T11:52:00.000-08:00

The berries are blown down the spout and into the box, sans debris.

Huckleberries, for those who don't know, are a tiny berry similar to a blueberry in appearance. The taste, however, is quite different. A bit tart, but sweet at the same time, with a strong flavor, these little berries make a big impression.

Picking them can be quite a job. Most people who want a large amount place some type of container under the bush and hit the bush with a stick or object to knock the berries down into the container.
These bushes grow best under some shade, so they are usually near a fir tree or three. When you hit the bush everything comes falling down into the container, including any loose fir needles. (Think tree skirt under the Christmas tree.)

Our property is full of huckleberry bushes. We decided to take advantage of the abundance. I picked one basketful earlier in the fall and did it with a painstaking process. One by one. Then I brought my basket inside and I cleaned them by hand and picked off every tiny little stem. I used those for the pancakes.

This time we wanted to make jelly, so we needed a lot of huckleberries. What we didn't need was to spend days cleaning them.

Chuck is so connected to people in the community that he found someone who still has an old berry cleaning machine. That family has contracts with companies who purchase the berries from them, so they are still using this old machine.

It was a cold evening, and Chuck had picked a bucket full of huckleberries. He called to see when we could get them cleaned and the guy said to come on over.

Quite the operation.

I had never seen one of these machines. The guy dumped our berries in and the machine blew out the debris and funneled the berries down the spout and into the wood box.

Sean enjoyed catching the berries as they came down the chute.
There were lots of wood boxes
filled with berries stacked at one end of the shed.
That family has been busy.

We took ours home and we're getting our jars, lids, pectin, sugar and large cooking pots ready. Jelly contains an amazing amount of sugar. It's kind of sick, really, but the product is really tasty.

Have a warm weekend

2011-11-12T10:41:00.000-08:00

Leaves have fallen, the air is damp and cold, and I love cuddling up in front of a warm fire.

Have a wonderful, warm weekend.

Scull face

2011-11-09T21:42:00.000-08:00

I'm a little late posting it, but this glass bowl was one of our Halloween decorations. It was also very functional.
Lilly especially loved it, and I suggested that we use it for some kind of treat. We thought of some type of candy or fruit, and then I decided salsa might be just so perfect.

He was such a ham for the camera.

Blue beauty with wings

2011-11-06T15:25:00.000-08:00

Recently my work days have been very long and filled with so many meetings that my head has been spinning. Some days I have had three or more meetings, and I've had meetings two Saturdays in a row. I have truly had to stop before walking in to remind myself what THIS meeting is about and make sure I have the agenda straight in my head.

On one particularly stressful day I had just finished a very productive and good meeting over lunch, and was in my car having a long phone conversation with my assistant about a problem and how to solve it. I was situated in front of a rock retaining wall and the sun was shining. It was really a beautiful day, and I saw this guy flitting around and he landed on the wall in front of my car.

I love it when I get little gifts like this right when I need them most. I needed this dragonfly at that moment. He/she served to take my mind off the stressful subject for a minute so I could realign myself with the big picture. I reminded myself that my job is just one part of my life, and there are so many other great things happening every moment of every day. Isn't this a wonderful world we live in?

A Kinder Way Wednesday: Give yourself a break

2011-11-02T18:16:00.000-07:00

Stress comes in different ways and has different meanings for me.
It is most common for me to feel stressed when I have a lot of things to do in a short amount of time. And that is pretty much every day.

I know that I do it to myself. Take yesterday, for example. I needed to go shopping at a particular store that has the items that were on my list. I knew that to drive there would take a while, and once I got there the shopping could take a while. And I needed to be home with dinner by about 5:30 p.m. because Chuck had to be somewhere by 6:30. I used up some time trying to find something they didn't have at the store, and when I looked at my clock it was 4 p.m. Good grief. I needed to get everything on my list in the shopping cart within 30 minutes, and be on my way to the car. It's a huge store. I had to pray the lines were moving fast, too.

Stress also comes when there are things happening in my life that I have no control over. Sickness, car trouble, an unexpected bill that depletes my bank account. I also feel a little bit of stress when people around me are stressed or unhappy.

Over the years I have dealt with the stress in different ways.
Sometimes I like it, because I get this adrenaline rush going and I become really focused and good at what I'm doing. But that's when it's the kind of stress that I do have some control over. This is usually a work-related stress, and as long as I'm allowed to work and not be interrupted during that rush to get something accomplished, I do it well.

Other times I don't do so well. I hate to say no and I love being busy, but there is a limit to what one human being can accomplish in a day. I put a lot of pressure on myself to get things accomplished. I used to really beat myself up when things went wrong, or I messed something up.

That phrase, "beating myself up," or the way people will say, "don't beat yourself up about it," is really eye opening. If you think about what is happening inside of you it is really a beating. I don't think that is a very good way to treat ourselves.

And what I've come to understand in the past few years is that nothing changes. If I get so bent out of shape about something the only thing that happens is that I get bent out of shape. The thing that went wrong is still wrong, but the world didn't end. My house is still standing. In fact, nothing at all changed except I probably gave myself a shorter life span with the extra strain I put on my soul and my heart, mind, and other organs that haven't been studied yet that show a deterioration due to stress.

So I'm kinder to myself now. I let things go a lot easier than I used to. Even with my job, which is super demanding, I know that if I get irritated and angry it isn't going to change anything. The results are the same, so why not just be calm and happy.

Terry's Potato Chips

2011-10-31T17:44:00.000-07:00

When I was very small, probably a year old or 2, we lived next door to a potato chip delivery guy.
It will sound kind of crazy, I know, but I actually do remember some things about that. I remember a truck, a driveway, and really nice people.
And I remember these buckets.

Terry knew about makin' potato chips.

Party time with the "Party-Pak".

I remember seeing the yellow of the bucket and in my baby mind I was very fond of it.
The bucket was made of heavy card stock-like paper, and it probably had some kind of waxy layer on it to prevent the oil from ruining the bucket. It had a metal ring around the top, which kept the round bucket shape, and I know it had a lid, but I don't remember what it looked like. I want to say it had two thumb notches and it was made of the same cardboard-ish type material.

My mom always raved about how good these chips were because we got them when they were so fresh. We moved to our home when I was 2, so we no longer had those fresh buckets of chips. But for years we ate Terry's potato chips. Probably until we moved out of the area. And that yellow bucket, which was saved from one of those gifts from our neighbor, was used as a yarn basket for just as many years.

During my recent move I came across the bucket in my mom's stuff. It was creased and crunched. The metal ring around the top was bent and no matter what I did I couldn't reshape it. The inside was full of yarn scraps and an old rusty looking hoop for embroidering. This thing had moved from Tenn. to Washington, and at least five times once it got here. No wonder there were so many creases and crunches in that thing.

I wasn't sure I could part with it, but we are bursting at the seams. I decided to take a picture of it and hold the memory that way. I gave it to Chuck to throw away the other day. Part of me regrets it, but it really had to go.

Huckleberry Heaven

2011-10-30T12:48:00.000-07:00

Our property is full of vegetation. The forests here are thick with undergrowth, and in some places on our land it's so thick you can't walk through it.

Salal and huckleberry bushes are all around us, and I think they are beautiful. I use stems of each in my bouquets.

But, I anxiously waited for the huckleberries to ripen. I have some fond memories of gathering huckleberries with my mom a couple of years before she died. We went out across the county line and found some untouched land with lots of bushes. We filled up our buckets and went home determined to make some huckleberry jelly. It is so delicious.

We had recently bought some for a high price, and decided we could just as easily make our own. When we began to pick the small stems off, rinse the berries, and clean them over and over again, we realized why the jelly was so expensive.

Our plans for giving large jars of huckleberry jelly to everyone for Christmas were reduced to very small, treasured jars for everyone.

Knowing what I was up against, I set out to pick a basket full of huckleberries one day last week.

It had been a very busy day, and I needed to just get outside in the peace and quiet of the forest. I used up my time picking, and knew there was no way I'd have time to make jelly once I got those berries cleaned.

I went to a different plan, and decided to use them in pancake batter for the morning.

I can't even begin to describe how delicious they were. Fresh huckleberry pancakes with maple syrup and scrambled eggs. Oh my goodness. And I'm really not a food person.

Oh, yeah.

Art, seafood and love

2011-10-28T13:21:00.000-07:00

It was a date night last Friday. We were looking forward to it all week, and it was a busy one.
That day was so busy I didn't even have time to change my clothes before going out. We picked Sean up at school and dropped him off with his dad, and we were off to...
What to do? Where to go? Where to eat? Hmmm.
A few months back Chuck won a yearly pass to the art museum, and we hadn't even used it yet. Our date began early enough to visit the museum for about 45 mins. before it closed.

It was great. I hadn't been there in a few years. Unbelievable, but true.
Our favorite was the Virna Haffer exhibit. That link is to the Tacoma Art Museum page, but if you Google her a lot of information will come up, including recent articles written about her. She spent the early part of her life right here in our community, living in the anarchist colony of Home. A photographer visited the community and her curiosity was peaked. She decided to become a professional photographer. What an amazing artist. The volume of her work, the subjects, it was all so impressive. I loved it! We plan to go back before it ends on Nov. 6.

Our choice for dinner was Anthony's at Pt. Defiance. Dinner was delicious and we had such a great time just talking about our future, and plans for our home and our lives. I had fettuccine with shrimp, and we got the four course special. Shrimp cocktail as appetizer, salad, main course, and chocolate mouse for dessert.

View from our table at Anthony's, Pt. Defiance.

Who will lead us?

2011-10-24T22:48:00.000-07:00

Quilts hand stitched by the ladies at the Washington Corrections
Center for Women in Purdy.

Beautiful quilts were draped over every pew in the church on Sunday. Each piece of fabric cut, stitched and knotted for the comfort of someone suffering. Maybe from a chronic illness, such as cancer. Maybe from the pain of a marriage or relationship that has turned from love to physical violence.

Each quilt was touched by someone sitting nearby and we all prayed over them.

Our church has a group of dedicated ladies who meet each week to quilt. They have made many quilts over the years, and on Sunday their work was on display.

But the largest section of the sanctuary, the middle row, had pews draped with three and four quilts each. These quilts were created and stitched and donated to be given away to others who are in need --by the ladies serving time in the women's prison that is situated not very far from our church.
And our pastor said, "Interesting, who will lead us."

Shroomin'

2011-10-23T19:27:00.000-07:00

We found a lot of these Chanterelles in the brush.

Since I've been living in the Pacific Northwest I've had a lot of experiences that I wouldn't otherwise.
I've definitely eaten a lot more seafood than I ever have before, I've seen a lot of plays and visited top-notch museums.

We are an eclectic family. We love the outdoors, living so close to nature and harvesting food we grow ourselves, but we also like the city and all it has to offer.

I've been waiting for mushroom season. I have a wonderful recipe for mushroom pie that I wanted to make using fresh mushrooms. There are a lot of them here. We have guided tours led by the parks department on identifying edible mushrooms. I've never participated in that program, but would if I could work it into my schedule.

But I found out I don't have to, because Chuck knows about mushroom hunting. (I sometimes wonder when I'll find his cape with the big S on it. He knows how to do so many things.) Mushroom season is finally here.

Last week we went mushroom hunting one afternoon when Sean got home from school. Chuck took us to the property he owns in the middle of our town that is vacant and undeveloped. Chanterelle mushrooms grow here, mostly in overgrown wooded areas. We spent a little bit of time at the property and harvested a bag full. But the recipe calls for eight cups of mushrooms, so Chuck went out on our property here at the house and gathered another large bag full.
His tip is to cut them at the base, not pull them. He has been going back to the same spots for years, and each year he finds them there.

Sean took his pocket knife and enjoyed crawling under the
brush to look for the prized mushrooms.

Another one!

We ended up giving those away because we had too many meetings and our schedules were too full to be able to cook at home and actually be here to eat it. Sad, but we ended up going out to a restaurant to eat that night because there was just not enough time before the next meeting.

There is another edible mushroom that grows on our property that we'll harvest for this pie. I plan to get out and hunt for them this week, and I'll make the pie next week. This week is another busy one.

Caution: power tools in use

2011-10-22T18:20:00.000-07:00

Last weekend after we celebrated Lilly's birthday, we harvested our pumpkins from the garden pumpkin patch and each got to work carving our Jack-O-Lanterns.
I've carved a pumpkin, I think, every year since sometime in the early 90s. It has been a family tradition. And if we could, we always got at least two and made sure one was elongated so we could carve the ghosty face on one and give it a large round mouth, and the other was the regular squat or round pumpkin, which was the one with a spooky sharp-toothed mean face.

This is the first time I've ever watched our own pumpkins grow in a patch. We all four had our own pumpkin to carve.

We started by opening the top and digging in to get the pulp and seeds out. Chuck likes to roast the seeds, and I had never done that. We separated the seeds for later.

Chuck cut off the tops and we saved the seeds for roasting.

I came inside to dig around in the gadget drawer in the kitchen to see if I could find something to use for shaving the rind of the pumpkin, and fine detailed carving. When I went back out I saw that Chuck had retrieved his drill and bits. (There really is a difference between men and women.)

Sean quickly got to work. He loved using the drill.

He drilled his pumpkin full of large holes and he was finished. I cautiously asked if he could tell me about his pumpkin, trying not to be critical or say, "What IS it?"
"Oh, it's a spider," he said, "See all the eyes." Well, yes, of course!

Chuck created a goofy, grinning, yet disturbing face on his.

Lilly wanted one that looked something like a tattoo.

I just drew whatever came to me, and it is unlike any I've ever carved.

When it got dark we lit the candles inside them to see what they would look like. Mine and Sean's didn't show up so well in the picture, but they do look cool in person.

Green and growing things

2011-10-18T12:14:00.000-07:00

I loved this little Hallmark Jack-O-Lantern. I'll probably
pot this plant into a different one after Halloween. I think
this is actually a candy dish.

I love to grow things, so a month or so ago when I found house plants for 50 cents at the thrift store I just couldn't walk away. The poor things were potted in solid mud. I bought all of them, and I think there were about six pots. Some large, some small, some dying, some hanging on to life.

Once I got them here I realized I didn't have enough pots for them. Back to the thrift store and Goodwill I went searching for just the right sized pots. I found quite a few, but I also found some Halloween and fall decorations that could work as pots.

This is another Goodwill find.

This one just cracks me up. It was the perfect
plant to put in this pot, too.

Some of the pots were too crowded, so I separated the plants. Some of them had no root system, so those I put in water. I ended up with about 12 or 13 plants. I filled the pots with healthy potting soil, watered them, and let them sit outside for some sunshine.
Chuck asked where I planned on putting them. Some I brought in and fashioned a plant shelf upstairs in our office area. For the time being I just left a lot of them in the pots outside because the weather was still warm enough.

And then I read Meag's class newsletter (Sean's teacher) and she asked if anyone had extra house plants they would like to donate to the classroom to make it more cozy. I gave quite a few. I also gave her the ones I had in water so the kids could see how long it takes for them to develop roots.

There are a couple more that I kept and have in our office. They've already grown so much! I love having plants all over the house.

This one has doubled in size in just a month sitting
on the window sill of our office.

Cake. It was my birthday

2011-10-17T17:26:00.000-07:00

Last week we celebrated my birthday. It was a great day. I taught Godly Play in the morning, and as usual had a great morning with the children. Chuck met me for the late service, and then we went to pick up a few things at the local grocery store, where I also picked out a cake.
I'm supposed to be getting in touch with a local artisan to maybe get a pair of custom made boots. If it works out I think they'll look awesome. I'm starting to wonder if it would work. They would be made of felted alpaca wool. If I get them I'll definitely post a pic.

The cake I chose was a chocolate tuxedo cake. Very yummy.

I'm always thinking of more photo opps after the fact. I didn't get a picture of myself that day. Should have. We need more cameras in this family so we can get other perspectives.
Sean loves to take pictures, and he does have a camera. He rarely remembers it, though.

I'm a photog loser

2011-10-02T16:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the annual Farm Tour in our neck of the woods, and we invited Sean's teacher Meag to join us. She is such a great person. We totally clicked the first time we met. I mentioned it to her last year, after the fact, and she seemed really interested.

It was gray and rainy all day. She wore some beautiful wellies, and it made me wish for my old pair. I haven't replaced them yet, but she inspired me to start searching.

So the title of this post is photog loser, and it's because I failed to charge my camera battery ahead of time, and even though there was a little bit of battery power I failed. (That's a long sentence, but I'm still sick and I don't have the energy to clean it up.) I took only one picture myself. Sean grabbed the camera and got a few shots at the Fiber Arts Festival. He loves attending that event. We've been to it every year.

Chuck took us to a farm closest to our house first, and we got some good information about grapes, elderberry bushes/trees, and greenhouses. We also learned a bit about bee keeping, because the lady there is our local bee lady. Almost all of her bees have died, but she is hoping to save one hive.

From there we went to the Lavender Farm. We bought a couple of starts, and I bought a fresh bundle of lavender and a sachet. With any luck we'll have beautiful lavender next year.

We made our way to the Fiber Arts Festival and ended the tour there. There were so many things to see. Sean found a nice knitted wool beanie that he just couldn't live without. I saw a lot of things I'd love to have, but they weren't in my price range.

After our tour we came home and picked huckleberries in the back yard for Meag to take home. She stayed for dinner, and Chuck made a beautiful seafood feast of salmon, crab, and geoduck. All local, all gifts, or harvested ourselves. It was delicious.

It was a full day of fun!

Sick and emotional

2011-09-27T14:10:00.000-07:00

When I get sick, and I mean the kind of sick where you're in bed with a fever and not enough energy to do more than sleep, I get emotional.
I'm not sure why. I start to feel vulnerable and want to curl up and be cuddled.
Warning: This post is going to be all about how great it is to have someone who loves you.

I'm still sick. This bug is strong and has had me down more days than I've been up. It's strange. It hits hard one day, the next day I start to feel a little better and so I venture out and do a few errands, etc. and the next day I'm flat on my back. Well, not flat, because I can't breathe. So I prop myself up on pillows and sleep all day.

I got up late yesterday, and got in the shower thinking I'd just go at my own pace and get ready to take Sean to school. We'd be late, but they'd understand when they saw me walk into the office with him to get his late slip. I looked like crap.
I didn't expect to see Chuck, because he was on shift, and right after he got off yesterday morning there was a union meeting, and then he had a meeting with some community people about disaster prep stuff, and then he'd be home.
But to my surprise he came in the door as I was getting out of the shower. He woke Sean up for school, and then he got busy in the kitchen and made us breakfast.
I was planning to just hit a drive through on the way, but he said he'd have it ready by the time Sean was dressed. He had just enough time to cook for us and then go back out the door for his union meeting.
We all left about the same time, and I came back and went to bed.
Chuck came home and made me chicken noodle soup for lunch with ingredients from the pantry because we didn't have any cans of it in the cupboard. And I slept some more.
He picked Sean up from school for me, came home and made dinner, then delivered pages to my layout guy who puts together the newspaper.
When he got back we ate dinner and Chuck helped tuck Sean into bed and read to him for a long time.
Then he came to bed and cuddled me until I fell asleep again.

I guess there are women who would think nothing of this. It's what they know as normal. For me, I was alone for a long time. When I was sick, I just had to make do. If I was too sick to take Sean to school, he didn't go. If I was too sick to cook, we ate sandwiches, or cereal or whatever was easiest.

Loving someone feels so good, and to have them love you back is one of the best feelings in the world.

It Got Me

2011-09-19T11:38:00.000-07:00

I spent last week drinking cup after cup of Airborne in an attempt to stave off this illness that had two of my favorite guys in bed. Sean got it first, and when Chuck came home from fighting a wildfire for five days, he had it by the next morning.

Well, I gave it all I had with that Airborne and extra Vitamin C. I started to feel it Saturday night and by Sunday morning it had hold of me.

I'm writing this in bed on a laptop.

It was a very busy week. I held the staff retreat on Saturday. I spent about a month and a half planning, scheduling speakers, and arranging for sponsors. As it got closer I started putting together the bios of the speakers so I could introduce them correctly, getting rsvps for attendance so we could order enough lunches, etc. and figuring out where the breakfast items would come from. That was all done last week. My assistant helped with getting the lunches and some of the supplies for our breakout sessions. She is so great at helping me form the agenda. It's a lot of work, and every year I've done it I've wished I could do it during a week that isn't so busy for me, but I enjoy putting it all together.

This year our focus was on advertising sales. I invited two guests to speak to us about sales, and specifically about print media.
They were awesome.

And though I was trying to pace myself, I think it all just created a breeding ground for this sickness.

Saturday was also the day for the Honoring First Responders event at our church. It's not a church event, but our church hosts it. Chuck took the kids there for the day while I was at the retreat. Immediately after that we were scheduled to attend an outdoor party. I met him at the event, he changed from his firefighter uniform shirt to a dress shirt and jacket, and we hit the road.

The party was lovely. Susan and her husband were hosting it with their next door neighbors. I know Susan from Golden Beads, a non-profit that supports public Montessori education. I've just gotten to know her a little bit, and she's so great, and now she's cycling off the board. I hope to stay in touch with her anyway.

Only in this area of the country would you find a bunch of people, probably about 50 of them and their kids, enjoying an outdoor barbeque in the rain. There were a couple of lawn tents, and we were able to stay relatively dry, but the kids were just romping around in the soggy grass, swinging on the swing set, and running around. Most events, from corporate to neighborhood, are "rain or shine" because if we only did things in the shine, we wouldn't be doin' much.

The party began a few years back when they celebrated the gate/fence that connects their back yards. I heard a few people talking about the zucchini race they had last year at this annual event.
We met some really nice people, and the food was so good. There were many types of sausages, some chili and plenty of beverages and snacks.

Sunday was kick-off for Sunday school. Unfortunately I was sick and couldn't be there. I know the people who took care of it did a stellar job, but I felt awful that I was not there. I'm the leader for Children's Ministry this year. We are using Godly Play for the young ones, ages 3-6, and for our older children we go more in-depth with the stories and we call that class Godly Explorers. You can read more about it here.

I love the curriculum and enjoy so much watching such young children form a relationship with their faith. It is a beautiful thing. I get to see them grow in their understanding and truly make it their own versus repeating something they've been told just because it was told to them by an adult. I love the foundation's explanation of what Godly Play is.

Today Chuck and I nailed down a date for a neighborhood Halloween party. I'm excited to get started on it, but the only thing I feel like doing right now is searching on the Internet for ideas to implement in our decorations.

I've been inspired by a few things I've found here.
Chuck is so handy that he can help me make a lot of stuff.
I'm envisioning a kids area, and an adult area. I'm not much on the horror stuff, but tasteful spooky is good.

Hero

2011-09-11T23:18:00.000-07:00

I remember it well. Those of us who were old enough will never forget Sept. 11, 2001, and we share a common bond that way. It's kind of like when I was a kid, and the adults in my life would sometimes talk about where they were when they heard the news that President Kennedy had been shot.
Some of the places they were seemed so insignificant, like standing in front of the kitchen sink washing dishes, or some such mundane thing like that. As a child I didn't get it. Now I do. I have my own kitchen sink story. Just as mundane, I was in the shower getting ready for work when I heard that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. Just as I got downstairs we saw that another had hit the second tower.

It has been 10 years since that day. Emotions were so heightened for everyone across the world, and so mixed. We were feeling anger, intense sadness, disbelief, confusion, helplessness, fear, and an overwhelming sense of unity for a while.
That day brought firefighters and what they do to into a spotlight. As we watched them on TV, saw images in newspapers and magazines of those firefighters trying to find and save people, my understanding of them deepened.
These are people who are willing to risk their own lives to help others daily. They go to work each day prepared to do that. They love doing it.
Suddenly, fire trucks and engines brought up emotions for me. As I waited at traffic lights and watched them pass, displaying their United States flags, tears of pride would flow.

Firefighters have always been special, but after 9-11 they were lifted higher. The images of firefighters covered in soot and ashes at Ground Zero, the pictures of fire engines destroyed in the collapse of the towers, those pictures tell the story. These guys went in, and they went in intending to save people.
They really are heroes.

My hero with a group of heroes from our local fire district.

Another shot of him, in dress uniform during a Veteran's Day ceremony.

Today, at the end of our worship service at church, we honored the memory of that day. Our music director wrote a song and performed it as scene after scene from the Sept. 11, 2001 tragedies was displayed on the two screens that hang above the communion table. I had not forgotten it, but the images brought up the emotions again. I was intensely sad. For so many reasons. Tears flowed, and I even heard some behind me sobbing.
It's a cliche, I know, but the world changed that day. The whole world. The WHOLE world. Some of it changed for the better. Some of it, I believe, changed for the worse.

One of the things I saw that day, and in the days that followed, was how a nation could come together and truly be united. It was fleeting; it only lasted for a short time. Eventually politics took over, but for a little while we really were united. People who had never met before were crying together and holding hands as patriotic music played. All over the country, there were people who volunteered to go to New York to help with search and rescue efforts. Some of them from 3,000 miles away. Everyone wanted to go. We all wanted to do something. Little kids collected pennies, old women made patriotic hats and gave the proceeds to the rescue efforts. So many, and I mean many, stood in line for hours to donate blood, we reached deep in our pockets to donate to the Red Cross, and we prayed.

It was beyond words.

Now, 10 years later, my prayer is still the same. I pray that our young children won't have a kitchen sink story to tell. I pray that human beings will realize that love is waiting for them. That love is an answer to hatred and violence. I pray that every child in every country will know that God is in their heart, and that love is waiting there to blossom and heal everything.

A Kinder Way Wednesday: Non-punishing discipline

2011-09-07T10:24:00.000-07:00

I grew up being punished for what my parents and teachers said were wrong behaviors. While this worked pretty well, I don't really think it is the best way to teach a child how to behave.
I admit it is my first reaction. Someone does something wrong, my first thought is punish them for doing it. It's how I grew up. But my logical side realizes this method really only teaches fear.

For most of us this fear works really well to deter us from behaving badly. Whether it is physical punishment, extra chores, or taking privileges, punishment is supposed to stop bad behavior.

Punishment is not always followed by rational conversation to explain why we should or shouldn't do certain things. We eventually mature and figure out why, but there are some who don't. Punishment is quick and usually easy. (I won't veer off in the prison as punishment topic right now, which is not always quick or easy.)

Instead I like to have high expectations for appropriate behavior, and constantly talk about why we should behave in certain ways. This takes intention and time. I admit sometimes I slip and revert to a threat of punishment, but I try hard not to. I've watched kids who constantly get grounded or punished continue doing same behaviors. It's almost as if it becomes a way to get desired attention, or a way to fulfill some role they've become accustomed to over the years. (I'm the kid. I'm expected to do things wrong, and then dad or mom punishes me. I get to whine about being grounded, and feel like a victim, which initiates at least some conversation and attention.)

It makes me wonder why the parents continue to dole out the punishment when it really does nothing to get the desired end result. I'm not perfect, and I've made a lot of mistakes as a parent, but I think the answer to bad behavior is more time with parents. When they are really young, redirection is very effective. As they grow older, evening walks, family game nights, special one-on-one time doing something the child really enjoys, and quiet time devoted to strengthening relationships can go a long way in getting the results we want.

What are your thoughts on punishment?

Sharing some beauty

2011-09-06T10:44:00.000-07:00

The dahlias are in bloom. I like to share. Here are a few photos.

Burst of beauty.

2011-09-05T13:33:00.000-07:00

I try my best to keep up with the latest on everything, but it is quite a job. I'm a little behind on this Pinterest thing. I learned about it through another blog, then started thinking how cool it would be to have such a thing.

You pin things on the board that you come across that flip your switch. I like it. Sometimes I don't have a lot to say about something, but still want to share it. It's kind of like having a cork board, but it's on the Internet. It's somehow hooked into Facebook.

So I guess you can "follow" people on Pinterest. I just signed up and I'm already "following" some people and I only know one of them. It automatically set me up with some people based on my interests.

I pinned some images today on my boards. The boards are in categories like Photography, Neighborhood Finds, My Style, etc. I might change those a bit. I made my own that's called, Just Because.

As I go I'll edit through and refine it. In case you're curious, here's where you can see my boards and click to follow me.
http://pinterest.com/marshahart/pins/

Dessert and Treasured Cups

2011-09-02T13:40:00.000-07:00

I wish I had written down more of what my mom told me. There are so many things she said that were funny, or wise, or just interesting. Some of those things I do remember, others are gone like the wind.
She used to tell me about some of the family items and say, "That was your great grandfather's trunk," or "That was your great grandma's chair," but I can never remember which side of the family. These were people I either never met, or don't remember very well.

There is a point to this, and it does involve dessert.

Last week the blackberries began to ripen, and Chuck picked a bowl full. I added some sugar and put them in the frig while I made a quick Bisquick shortcake. I baked those while we ate dinner.

Fresh-from-the-oven shortcake and some blackberries with whipped cream sounded like a great dessert.

Then I remembered we had just unpacked these beautiful little cups. They were my great grandmother's. Not sure which one. I remember them from when I was a little girl, but I think we only used them once. I vaguely remember it. I mostly remember them being in the cupboard, high up where we couldn't reach them.

I love these little crystal cups. They're so dainty, and have so much detail.

These cups somehow traveled to Tennessee, and I'm not sure when. I don't know if they were given to my mom before she and my dad moved to Tenn., way back before I was born, or if they were sent to her, or if she picked them up on one of our trips out here when I was small.
The cups were then moved back to Washington when she moved back here, and got moved several times once they were here. They just got moved again a couple of weeks ago. I decided these pretty little things needed to see the light of day and that we should enjoy them.
I would hate for any of them to get broken, but I've decided life is short, and we need to stop saving things and use what we have and enjoy the beauty of our treasures.

A Kinder Way Wednesday: No tone, please.

2011-08-31T23:23:00.000-07:00

As I browsed the racks close to the cash register at the second hand store, I listened to the lady in line in front of me. She was a home and garden store employee, and she vented about her work with the ladies who were ringing up her stuff at the register.

The jist was that it can be a challenge to work with the public. Specifically, dealing with the demands of such individuals who frequent the garden section on occasion. Not only the demands, such as putting the potted plants into a small box, but the tone they use with the help.
She shared her story about a customer she encountered, and I know it's difficult to convey in print, but imagine the part in quotes with an indignant, accusatory tone.
Once the transaction was complete she told the customer to have a nice day, and the response was, "I'm not ready to leave yet!"

I used to work in a retail store, and I can tell you that not only the customers, but the co-workers needed some lessons in how to talk to others.

And it's not just the words, it's the tone that is disrespectful.
Now I can put some tone on when I need to, especially when I have a child who is ignoring me and believes they can do whatever they want instead of what they should. But I try my best to keep a respectful and cheerful demeanor.

This is something I've reminded Sean about in recent years. Sometimes his tone is disrespectful, in my opinion. (I've witnessed entire families talking to each other in that way. I won't have it.) I've talked to him about it, and when he does it now (much less frequently than he used to) all I have to say is, "No tone," and he knows what I mean. He usually responds with, "I'm not toning," in a soft voice, and then continues to talk to me in a much more calm manner.

I really don't understand why anyone would approach a person they have never met and use such an attitude and tone. I know people have very bad days, and some have been having bad days with no break for years. There are all sorts of reasons for being in a bad mood, but I think it would be appropriate to say: "Excuse me, ma'am/sir. No tone, please." Maybe all retail establishments should have a sign posted in their windows that says, "No shirt, no shoes, no service. And please, no tone. We have the right to refuse service for toning."

August hospitality, and Happy Birthday to Sean

2011-08-30T02:18:00.000-07:00

August has been quite the month for gatherings at our house.
It started with a neighborhood barbeque. Chuck has wanted to host something like this for a while in order to get the whole neighborhood together to get to know one another. It just makes good sense. Plus he's involved in the emergency preparedness for our area, and one of the basics is knowing the people around you so you can work together in an emergency situation. You get to know who is skilled at what, who has what, etc.

It was a perfect day for a little grillin' and outdoor socializing.

I didn't know anyone, and it seemed that all of the people who showed up didn't really know anyone either and they've been living here for a lot longer than I have. Most of the homes aren't really close to each other, and we live on seven acres, so there's not a lot of talking to each other over the fence kind of action.
It was a lot of fun. Chuck grilled brats (pronounced brauts, as in those German sausages, not bratty children) and made his famous beans, and everyone brought a little something from salads to delicious desserts.
I kept thinking we needed name tags, because I'm awful with names and now I can only remember a few of them. But at least I would recognize the people if I saw them now.
One of the people who came is the lady who sells eggs down the way. It's so convenient to be so close. We get eggs from her at least once a week.
Another reason we hosted this little party was to get to know the kids in the area. We were hoping some kids Sean's and Lilly's age lived around here and they could play together. The ones who came were older, so we still don't have playmates here.
They all catch the bus at our corner, and we get a lot of rain here. Chuck and Brian, one of our closer neighbors, got together one afternoon and built a bus shelter for the school kids.

It took all day, but they got the bus shelter completed.

Chuck painted it with his sprayer, and then we had all the kids and adults who showed up to the barbeque sign it and leave messages on the walls with Sharpies. The men who were here dismantled it and loaded it into the truck, then put it all back together at the corner that afternoon.

We all got the chance to write on the walls.

We hosted a family barbeque the next weekend, and made it part of Sean's birthday celebration. He likes to be very involved in the planning and setup of his parties, and we have a tradition with the cake. He decorates his cake.

Happy Birthday to Sean!

He loves to spend time in the kitchen, and also loves to be creative. He wanted to use every attachment that came with the icing. He made the decoration in the middle to "make it interesting," and we all agreed it looked like Chinese writing. He enjoys the language and I'd like to get him back into it.

One of the desserts was provided by Aunt Bennie. Sean loves her Cherry Yum Yum, and she offered to bring it to this family function. I think it was one of his favorite birthday gifts.

We hadn't had Bennie's Cherry Yum Yum for years.
It's a layered dessert with graham crackers, pudding and
pie filling cherries.

Sean opens his train set.

Chuck got him a really nice electric train set. They had a good time setting it up in the gazebo.

I used to buy the stuff for a themed party and get the cake to match. We've done construction theme with a cake that had diggers and dump trucks (Matchbox cars) on it, and crumbled Oreo's that looked like dirt being excavated, etc. We've done the Spider Man theme with a tabletop decoration, matching plates and even masks for all of the kids at the party. (That one was a huge hit, BTW.) For the family barbecue I dug out some old stuff that we never used. We happened to be flying our pirate flag at the entrance to the driveway, and I happened to have some pirate plates, treat bags, and napkins. Sean decided to go with it.

He wanted to have his party with friends at the Reptile Zoo, but I wasn't crazy about the idea of taking food items into a place where salmonella is rampant. I thought of having the party at a nearby restaurant, but wasn't sure it was necessary.

We skipped the cake and decorations for the friend party, and just invited a few of his friends to come with us for an afternoon at the Reptile Zoo. We invited four and two could make it. It was a fun day, and the boys had a great time.

Kyle, Jacob-Joshua and Sean had a turn holding snakes.

The tortoises were out in the back yard. We've seen these guys in action before,
but it was a treat to be able to hang out with them again. Kyle had never been to the Reptile Zoo.

August has flown by. School begins this week, and the weeks that follow will be filled with meetings and activities. I'm involved with the school, with the non-profit that supports public Montessori, and with Sunday school at church, which also begins later in September.

Sea creatures and a movie

2011-08-20T23:02:00.000-07:00

Chuck was working a shift today/night, and I had the kids, so this evening I decided to get them out of the house and into something different than we usually do. After dinner we packed a bag of blankets, some Reese's, M&M's sodas and juice packs and made our way to our local park thinking they were showing The Wizard of Oz as an outdoor movie tonight. I had never been, and thought it would be fun.

Turns out I missed it by a night. So we came back to the house, looked up outdoor movies on the ol' Internets and found another one at a park in Gig Harbor. This one was Oceans, a Disney movie.
You can see more about it here.

It was a bit slow for kids, but so beautiful. These kids were pretty attentive, and Sean is all about animals and sea creatures. He knew what most of them were before the narrator could begin to talk about them. Some we had never heard of, and that is always fun.

Afterward, a group called Harbor Wild Watch shared a little touch tank action with sea stars, crabs and such, and there were lights in the bay just off the public pier. The sea critters get curious about the lights and we got to see a few fish and lots of tiny jellyfish. I was hoping for something more exotic, like a squid or eel, but of course we've seen those before.

A Kinder Way Wednesday: Gentle Mindfulness

2011-08-17T15:12:00.000-07:00

Years ago, back when I was in college, I took classes in Yoga and meditation. Those classes set me on a path, and I'm so glad I took them. I have not practiced Yoga consistently, and I've deviated from some of those lessons I learned during meditation, but overall I still hold onto some of those basic teachings.

One of the exercises in the meditation class asked us to be mindful of our movements. We were to be fully aware of each thing we did and how we did it.
One example was this:
When setting the table, we were supposed to mindfully set the silverware in its place. The idea was to become more self aware.

I tried this and pretended in my mind that everything I touched, whether living or non-living, had feelings. I asked myself , if I were a fork how would I prefer to be placed onto a hard surface? Would I want to be tossed, set down with force, slid across the table, thrown onto a plate?

Of course there are things that must be forced, such as car doors, and certain other things. But the point of the exercise was not necessarily to be gentle with each and every thing, but to become mindful of ourselves and how we move through our environments.

It's easy to get caught up in the hectic pace of life and lose the mindfulness, but I find that the more mindful I am of what I am doing, the kinder I become.

Balancing Act

2011-08-16T10:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday marked the official start to a very busy 10 months ahead for me. I have joined a non-profit group called Golden Beads. Golden Beads supports public Montessori education in our area, and we are gearing up to sell Golden Beads apparel for both of the public Montessori schools' open house nights. We are also planning a candidate forum for the candidates running for school board, and a beautiful February dance.

The rest of this month is busy with meetings for work, and all of the rush to get ready for the start of school. Open house is Aug. 30, and I can't wait to tour the new building. The students will be in a temporary school until the new one is complete at our site.

Next month will be the start of school site council meetings, and the non-stop hustle that will lead into the holiday season.

I have enjoyed the summer break. I really needed the down time to rest and NOT attend as many meetings, and not drive as much. I spend a lot of time on the road. We drive about 20 miles one way to get to school.

I love being busy, and I enjoy all that I do. If I didn't I wouldn't do it. But we also have kids, work, a home, garden, and relationship to cultivate and grow. If I stop and think of all that I do it makes me wonder how I get it all done. I try not to think about it and just keep going on to the next.

Yesterday's sermon was about bringing the relationships to the center of your life. It's hard to balance all of the extra stuff and those most important relationships with family. We discussed this yesterday and decided we are doing pretty good, but need to make sure we don't let the important people in our lives slip out to the edges. Mostly the kids, but also our extended family members.

We are trying to incorporate special days with the kids into the last few weeks before school starts. We're planning another camping trip soon, and we've attended and are hosting family dinners this summer.

How do you balance your busy life?

Eating at Dave's, looking at cars

2011-08-13T11:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Charlie took us out to eat at Famous Dave's. I had never been, and it was my kind of food. I'm not a big fan of the hunt club scene, and the walls were filled with hunting paraphernalia, but it was all interesting to look at. Plus, the food was good.
I wasn't feeling great. I had been in a rear-end accident and my neck and back were hurting.
We ordered the big meal that feeds 4-6 people. It had chicken, ribs, corn on the cob, cornbread muffins, baked beans and slaw. I should have taken a picture. It's served in a metal trash can lid (clean, of course.)

I did snap this shot as we were walking in.

I was wishing my boy Dave could be here for Dave's Day.

And this classic pic of Charlie...

On Saturday the LeMay Car Museum opened a portion of its doors and grounds to area firefighters and their families. There were hotdogs, hamburgers, snacks and ice cream and a few games and bouncy houses for the kids to enjoy.

We walked around a while and looked at some of the cars. Chuck ran into some friends, and I knew some of them. The kids had a great time.

This was a very cool slide.

Bouncy!

Next year the LeMay Car Museum will be in a brand new location with a cool building. We're excited to visit it once it is finished. You can read about it here. It's already taking shape, and it should be a pretty cool place to visit.

A Kinder Way Wednesday: Don't eat my flowers, or I'll CUT YA!

2011-08-10T15:33:00.000-07:00

Here in western Washington we don't have a lot of pesky bugs like they do in the southern states. We get the occasional fly, of course we have a lot of spiders, and Lord knows we have slugs and snails galore.

I have been known to spread a little slug bait in my day to save our flowers and rhododendron, but I've changed my murderous ways. My hate for the slug and snail have given way to a respect for their lives as well, and I use this instead.

All natural, eco friendly and RECYCLED. Egg shells. The slugs and snails don't like to slither across the egg shells, so we sprinkle crunched up egg shells around the flowers to protect them. (As you can see by the leaves on this dahlia, I was a little late getting out there with the egg shells.)

We eat a lot of eggs, and I do mean a LOT. We also have a LOT of flowers and plants around the property. So when we crack the eggs we rinse the shells and let them dry. We keep them in a zip lock bag and crunch them up as we go.

The egg shells also deter cutworms. I'd never heard of these, but they kill seedlings.

A show of arms and suction cups

2011-08-05T12:53:00.000-07:00

It was a rare show. We've been to the zoo quite a few times, and yesterday was our first time seeing the famous octopus. Usually we have to really study the tank to get a view of him. He hides under his rock and sits there perfectly still.

Yesterday he suddenly started to move his arms in a rhythmic, rolling motion. It was a busy day at the zoo, so there was quite a crowd in the aquarium. As he started to emerge, a larger crowd of kids gathered, excited to see the show.

He came out, stretched himself on the adjacent rock, and puffed himself up. He hung on there for a few seconds, just long enough for some people to snap a few pics, then he went right back into his crevice. It was as if he came out for the crowd, strutted his stuff, and said, "That's all for now. Thanks for coming folks."

Now the really bad part of this story is that right before we arrived in the octopus area, my camera battery died. I only got a few pictures of this trip to the zoo. Usually not a big deal, because I have quite a lot of zoo shots. But I wanted more this time because Charlie is here visiting from Nevada.

Here's the best shots of the zoo this time around.

Sean and Charlie at the entrance to Pt. Defiance Zoo & Aquarium.

Sean was being stalked by the peacocks. They were making their
calling sound, and we joked they were saying, "Sean! Sean!"

Sharks.

We invited Shane and Jacob-Joshua to come over and pick raspberries earlier in the day. We have so many of them, and we've frozen a bunch and I'll be making jelly or jam soon. We've already had raspberries and ice cream, raspberries and shortcake and ice cream, and these bushes just keep giving us more.

After picking, we loaded up and made our way to the zoo. It was the perfect day for both activities.

A Kinder Way Wednesday: Don't Kill That!

2011-08-03T11:54:00.000-07:00

I tend to be a let-live person. Whether it's a spider in the corner of a bathroom, or the question of capital punishment, I usually raise my hand in favor of let live.
I won't digress into the capital punishment topic. I'll save that for another day.
There are certain bugs and things that I will kill. The mosquito is one.

It's mosquito season. When the sun goes down there are certain areas of the yard and property that are pretty thick with mosquitos. Some of the windows don't have screens. Sean's room is one, and then there are a couple upstairs that don't have them. I leave the upstairs windows open a lot and don't have much trouble with bugs coming in.

We had a couple of really warm days, and I left the windows open in the evening. We were noticing a few mosquitos inside, and some moths, too. I had been successful in killing the mosquitos--yes, I know. Killing.

As Sean and I sat eating dinner we saw this guy on the ceiling.

Sean knew I was eyeing that big thing that looked like a huge mosquito.

"Don't kill him," he said. "He's not a mosquito. I know he looks like a big mosquito, but he's not. He's a crane fly."

This kid has loved bugs since he was a little toddler. He devours books on critters and crawly things. He read about crane flies in a book. He did think they eat mosquitos, which I took as fact, but upon further research found they in fact do not eat mosquitos. I'll have to break the news to Sean, however, I won't be killing them.

They live here and don't really hurt anything. They flit around sort of like a mosquito, but they don't land on people. I have only noticed them on the ceiling, the window screen downstairs, and sometimes on a curtain.
They aid in the decomposition of decomposing vegetation, like a compost pile. (wow, that's a lot of compos words.)

This creature goes in the let live category.
During my research I read that there are areas where they are very prevalent in this state and people are using spray to kill them. Most of them are harmless, although there are some species that cause a problem to vegetation and lawns, etc.
The spray is causing a problem for other things. If you're interested in some information about the crane fly you can find it here.

Stuff I don't need

2011-08-01T20:53:00.000-07:00

That title could generate a really lengthy post. There are so many things I don't need. But I'll stick to the original point.

We're getting ready for a yard sale. We've gone through each cabinet, each drawer, our closets, and are down to only a few more closets and we'll have a complete inventory of things to keep. We've made a pile of things to sell, and we're making progress on things to throw away. We've made one trip to the dump already.

We've been going through the bigger items, like dishes and ratty furniture. Today I started going through my jewelry box. I have a lot of jewelry that I just don't wear anymore. Some of it really isn't that old. I bought it thinking it was pretty, then got it home and realized it just wasn't me.

I pulled these items out to decide if I should keep them or sell them. None of them are fine jewelry pieces, and most of it is stuff I've had since the 90s. There are a couple of those cheaper charms for the Italian charm bracelet that I had about eight years ago. The pink and brown circles are a set of earrings that I got last year. Cool as I thought they'd be, I put them on and they were way too big. I'm petite, and they just looked weird on me. I have some big hoop earrings that I think look fine, but these were just too much.

It feels good to methodically go through this stuff.
I've been able to let go of a lot of things, and then there are some things that I decided to keep. I tend to keep some things that have a strong emotion or memory connected to them. I've noticed that some of those items I kept during the last go-through are now in the give away pile.

We really enjoy looking at stuff, shopping at thrift stores and yard sales, and we like unique old things. But I've been able to avoid going to the thrift store or stopping at yard sales this summer because I knew I had to get rid of a bunch of stuff first. I typically have a pile to take to Goodwill on a weekly basis. I kept thinking the house should have been empty by now, but it is unbelievable how much stuff we have.
Which do you enjoy more, getting stuff at yard sales, or selling stuff at a yard sale?

A boy's paradise

2011-07-30T23:23:00.000-07:00

This week Chuck decided he really didn't have the time to devote to the dirt bike he and Sean bought from a Craig's List post. The thing didn't run, and they had big ideas of finding the problem and fixing it. They worked on it one afternoon, but summer will be winding down soon, so Chuck decided to look for another one that would provide some immediate enjoyment.

Watch out. Here comes trouble and his sidekick,
Emma.

They found another one on Craig's List and we drove about an hour to get it. The man said his son had no interest in it, and it sounded like he was not real comfortable riding it. He said the boy wouldn't go fast enough on it to keep the front wheel steady. Chuck looked at me and said, "I'm afraid we'll have the opposite problem."

It was late in the evening when we got it home, and they were ready to take off on it. They didn't get far. Sean came back into the house, shoulders slumped, and said, "Needs a tube." I wasn't sure what that meant. He explained the back tire tube was bad. He was pretty disappointed. Chuck had to work the next day, which meant a possible 24 hours of sitting and staring at this newer motorcycle and not being able to ride it.

I agreed to take Sean to the nearest motorcycle store the next day to get a new tube, and Chuck said he would try to come by on a break and get it trail ready.
Once we had the new tube, Sean immediately called Chuck to let him know we were on our way home and he should meet us there to install this new tube. I think he texted him a couple of times, too. He was so anxious to try it out.

Chuck stopped by on a break and they put the
new tire tube in, pumped it up and it was
ready to go.

This property is perfect for it. His feet barely touch the ground, and it's a pretty heavy bike for him, but he was rarin' to go. He hasn't had it out of first gear yet, but he's pushing first gear.

His toes just touch the ground, but he's not afraid.

He's getting the feel for it, and each time he gets on he learns more about it. He's dumped it a few times, but seems to know how to let it go and hop out of the way of it.

Chuck is having a good time watching Sean enjoy it.

I can't even describe how this kid loves this motorcycle, and this property. He has always loved being outside. He loves being here, and there's plenty to keep him busy.

Here he goes through the gate to the lower property.

After Chuck went back to work, and Sean had ridden around a bit, we came back up to the house and I talked to him about privilege and responsibility. I explained that he is fortunate to have a nice home, a room filled with the toys he loves, and now this motorcycle. With that comes the responsibility to act like a gentleman, with a good attitude of being thankful for all that he has, and good manners. We talked about how important it is to behave well, and to be a role model for others. I don't want him to get to a point of feeling entitled to things.

I'm happy for him to have fun things, and I'm so thankful for Chuck. He's so very good to both of us.

Peace, love and ice cream

2011-07-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

= Ben & Jerry's.
We finally had some warm days here. Two in a row, I think. I was loving it but the natives tend to get the vapors, as we call it in the South. We had been in the car a while and Sean was suffering and had a headache. I suggested a stop at Ben & Jerry's for some ice cream.
We got the Fish Food flavor. It has chocolate ice cream, marshmallow and little chunks of fair trade chocolate in fish shapes. It was sooo good. I don't usually like stuff in my ice cream. I find it odd to be chewing on something so cold that it hurts my teeth while I'm really trying to enjoy something smooth and creamy. But the chocolate fishies were not freezing cold, and they were delicious.
They aren't paying me to say any of this. We didn't even see Ben or Jerry anywhere.
I realize it does sound like a pitch, but honestly, we just really liked it.

Fish Food ice cream and a cup of ice water.
It was exactly what we needed.

I've been to the Ben & Jerry's in San Fran, but the Gig Harbor B&J is pretty cool. They have a foto booth that takes a few frames of photos and uploads to Facebook. If you become a fan of them on FB, you can share your pics with your FB friends. We enjoyed goofing off with that for a few minutes.
I didn't get a picture this time of the cows outside, but they are big, and black and white. I was hoping this car outside was a VW van, but we had to settle for an old VW Bug. Still fun.

Sean liked the peace sign spray
painted on the hood. We had a '74
VW Bug when I was a kid. I drove
it when I was old enough. Ah, them
was the days...

Yesterday was about 82 degrees here and I guess God realized these natives just can't handle that kind of heat. Today it's gray and currently 59 degrees. (Some people say cloudy, but I say gray. Cloudy means you see patches of blue sky between clouds. There is no blue. It's just gray.)
High of 72 expected today. Whoo hoo. Summertime in western Washington.
Hope you get some peace, love and ice cream wherever you are today.

Date Night continued

2011-07-21T21:04:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we got to be very grown up and attend a fun party. Stephanie and Rick hosted a backyard party complete with lots of food, lots of beverages, a big fire in the fire pit, two live bands, and a bunch of great people. There was a mix of age groups and backgrounds. It was so much fun. We stayed out late and slept in a little bit on Sunday.
Chuck reported for duty as a judge at our community's charity croquet tournament. It was the second year for the event, and the judges were all local celebrities of one type or another. Some were elected representatives in state or local offices.
I stopped by and took a few photos.

Derek Kilmer, a state senator, and Terry Lee.
Lee used to represent our district on the
county council. They were having a great time.

The angels came to play dirty.

Not sure how I did it, but I neglected to take any of Chuck. Probably trying to avoid favoritism for the paper, but now I wish I had one for my own archives.
The judges were all dressed in striped ref shirts and nice tan visors, and they all carried clip boards. An unscrupulous lot, they all were easily bribed with croquet money. Missed a shot, no problem. Give the judge a $5 croquet bill and all is OK.
All of the money went to a local Communities in Schools program this year.
The teams came dressed in all manner of costumes, and these were some of my favorites.

This guy was on the Mad Hatters team. Love
his bow and that huge drink glass.

I don't know the name of this team,
but they came in plaid and had huge mallets.
I snapped this shot just as this guy was thumbing
his nose at someone on the opposing team.

There were some others great moments, but I didn't get good pics of them.
It was our last horrah before welcoming the kids back. Sean arrived Monday, and Lilly got back yesterday afternoon.
This week has been work, work, work. I expect the weekend will prove to be very full of work as well. Tomorrow we will welcome Chuck's nephew Charlie, who is coming from Nevada for a music school at a local university for a week.

Date Night

2011-07-15T16:12:00.000-07:00

A night without kids is rare for us. We always have one, and sometimes both of them with us. This week was our week. Sean is on vacation with his dad, and Lilly is spending the week with her mom.
I'll cut right to the good stuff, but I'll leave something to the imagination.

Wednesday was our only night free of obligations and work, so I suggested that we go out to eat someplace nice and also go see a movie that we wouldn't take the kids to see.

After working all day here moving things around, at around 3 p.m. we started painting a room. We had one wall left when I asked what time it was, and it was 5:30. We left that last wall, which was going to be a different color anyway, and I checked for movies and show times.

There weren't as many choices as I had hoped. I wasn't really in the mood for something serious, but we considered "Buck," a documentary showing at The Grand. I looked at the local theater listing and came up empty. We both wanted a comedy.

There are plenty of restaurants we haven't tried yet. A Thai restaurant, some Chinese, and I had heard good things about a local Japanese restaurant. We chose the Japanese and were not disappointed.

Our tea cups were filled with warm green tea. Mmm.

I had teriyaki salmon and chicken with rice, and Chuck had tempora vegetables and shrimp with salmon.
We used chop sticks for as long as possible, but resorted to the forks eventually.

Our Thursday morning was going to start really early, because we were attending a Chamber breakfast at 7:30 a.m., but we wanted to continue our date with the movie. We chose "Bridesmaids." I had heard good things about it. Parts of it were hilarious. It was kind of predictable in some places, but we had a good time.

We're enjoying the quiet. Last night we had a quiet dinner at home after a day of work and meetings. The tranquility will turn to chaos next week when the kids return. It will be a full week of running around and work deadlines. We love them, and really love having a family, but it sure is nice to have some time to bond and grow together.

Abloom

2011-07-08T19:41:00.000-07:00

The flowers are in bloom, and I love to fill the house with pretty bouquets of whatever is available from the yard. Here are a few pics for your viewing pleasure.

I love the puffy, full blooms of these roses. I filled this little vase

as full as I could, and the pink one in the middle is open now.

Don't you just love fresh flowers in the bathroom?

And the kitchen.

And of course on the dining table.

Don't Look Down

2011-07-07T21:00:00.000-07:00

We're pretty proud of our two bridge spans around here. The bridge we take to Tacoma has a toll, but we don't have to pay on the one that brings us home. I especially like the fact that the state takes care of them. We see workers painting and checking them often. I saw these guys out recently and thought I'd share.

Those guys are brave. They work to keep the old
bridge sound and looking nice.

This looks scary enough, but you should see the drop below.
Puget Sound churns underneath. Some of the largest
ocotpodes in the world live there.

Back in the day, when we only had the one bridge, we used to have to plan carefully if we were going to Tacoma. Both going and coming home could be snarly and add a lot of time, stress and distress to the day. I remember getting a bug to go somewhere, but I'd look at the clock and realize it was a really bad idea. There were times we would spend a couple of hours just trying to make it over the bridge and home in the evening traffic. A trip to Tacoma was usually an all-day event.

The commute is easy peasy now. I still have to plan for some traffic at peak times, but I've found that during the time of day I have to use either bridge the traffic moves pretty quickly.

In the beginning it was weird to drive on the old one because they opened up all of the lanes to go one direction. When it was our only bridge, there were two lanes in each direction. I found it difficult to use those left lanes for fear of a head-on collision the first few times I drove in them.

Having the new bridge is great, but it's an added expense we didn't have before, especially because I make a lot of trips over those bridges each week. We've adjusted. Oh, and you don't want to get a ticket. If you're not paying attention and slip through those cameras without that Good to Go transponder sticker on your windshield you'll get a little piece of mail with a picture of your car and license plate and a hefty bill for $52.

Raising the toll is a constant topic. With high gas prices and few jobs it is a serious concern for a lot of people who live on this side. Our cars have transponders, which makes our toll price $2.75. Those without a transponder pay $4.
There's a lot more (bad news) I'm not telling you, but if you're interested you can always Google it. Lots of unhappy people when the new contractor took over. New transponders not working, etc.

And if you want a bit of history about the bridge you can read about that here.

Desert feet

2011-07-01T12:26:00.000-07:00

Lilly's Pug and a glimpse of my pedi.

I'm not trying to freak anyone out, or make anyone sick, but my heels were so dry from being in the desert air that I was picking at them. Nasty, I know.

Just having one of my heels brush against my inner thigh was like being poked with a thorn. My feet were so dry it was changing the way I was doing everything. I couldn't sit the way I wanted in the car, and in all situations I tried to make sure my feet didn't come in contact with any part of Chuck's body.

As I was riding, looking at the scenery from the passenger window, I would pick at my heels. I caught myself a couple of times and decided the pedicure had to be scheduled asap upon our return home.

Lilly likes all things girly, and I figured a pedicure would be a nice thing for us to do together.
We went to a place in Gig Harbor called Julep last weekend. It was great. A bit pricey, but it's all non-toxic, eco and green and all of that, and we felt like it was very clean and we got a great pedicure. The most important thing for me was smoothing all the rough edges, but I'm enjoying the nice color on my toes.

We got the full treatment.

Lilly's new toes.

Ah, it sure is nice to have smooth feet. I'm sure Chuck appreciates it.

June vacation 2011

2011-06-29T13:58:00.000-07:00

View from Colleen and Steve's.

(Warning: This is a long post with lots of pictures of our vacation. It's really meant for me to catalog our trip and photos. If you hate slide shows you might not like this post.)
A few months ago Chuck invited us to ride with him to his family reunion in Nevada, so we were excited about visiting a place we had never been.
Chuck suggested we camp each night on the way down and back, something else we've never done. Sean and I have camped for a couple of nights at the ocean, but we've never camped on a big trip.
We packed the Jetta tight, and even had a rack on top that held a cooler, a tent kit, and our camp site cooking bins full of utensils, towels, plates, cups, etc.

Every bit of trunk space was crammed, as well as the inside of the car. My car is a bit bigger, but was in the shop for some work. We managed the cramped quarters really well. Chuck was creative with packing the trunk each morning as we headed for a new destination.

We'd stop for lunch and Chuck would
dig around in the cooler for what we needed. After lunch
he'd strap it all back on and off we'd go.

Our first stop was Idaho. Chuck wanted to give the kids a full day of fun at Silverwood Theme Park.

Chuck and Sean had a lot of fun on this ride. It's
also where Lilly had an encounter with a "cute" boy
who was trying to dodge the squirting water.

We got to Farragut State Park in Idaho on a Monday night and camped. It was a very nice park with great campgrounds and showers.

Our favorite state park camping experience.
There was a lot to see at this one. Nice facilities, and
the park office had a great exhibit inside.

Chuck has a friend, Mike, who lives near there and offered to find a good spot for us. He phoned several times while we were on our way to let us know it was pouring down rain. He offered to let us stay at his house if it was too much for us to handle.

Our map showed the turnoff for the campground before Silverwood, but it was actually past Silverwood. We had ventured off on a road we thought would take us there, and got the call from Mike that we should have continued on a bit. (The rain had stopped, so we arrived just at the right time.) He met us at an intersection and we followed him in to the campsite. Mike and his wife and their daughter already had a fire going for us. They stuck around and helped us put up the two tents in the dark, and we sat around the fire for a little while.

We got up the next day and made breakfast at the campsite before going to Silverwood. It was a clear and beautiful day, but a little cool for the water park. Of course the kids insisted we should try it, but it was quite miserable. Maybe later in the summer we can go back and enjoy it more.

The water park is awesome, and this was just one of the
water park fun areas. Sean didn't get very far into the water. Lilly and I gave the
meandering tubes a try. So cold. The sun kept going behind the clouds.

The park was great. We went on quite a few rides, and we all agreed the log flume was our favorite. Sean and I ventured over to the smaller kids area and went on a couple of rides there. He had a great time, but we couldn't ride with him on most of them. We were all too tall. He was just tall enough to go on the big rides.

Our only splurge at the park was a couple of huckleberry funnel cakes. Mmm. That was deeelish.

We had lunch from our own cooler in the parking lot, but splurged
on dessert at the funnel cake stand.

We had packed so much food in the cooler we went out to the car for lunch. (We still had a lot of food left when we arrived in Nevada.) It's great because they stamp your hand at Silverwood so you can go out of the park and come back when you're ready.

After a fun, full day we made our way back to the campsite and Mike and his family came back to socialize while we all had some hotdogs and S'mores. We stayed one more night at the camp and took off the next day for Nevada.

Since we were already in Idaho, Chuck chose a route through Idaho and tried to make our stop that night in Boise. I needed to get to a computer store for a part, and the only one was in Boise. There was no way to make it before the store closed, so we camped across the border in Oregon at Farewell Bend State Park, and made our way to Boise the next morning. (Farewell Bend is pretty nice, but was a little noisy and the showers weren't as nice as Farragut.)

After we got to Boise for my computer part, we were back on the road headed down 51. The scenery was beautiful. I had never spent time in Idaho. The road was not a main highway, and was windy and two lanes, but so worth the extra effort. We stayed off main highways on this trip, so we didn't see a lot of cars and our path was winding and scenic.

The scenery was incredible along our route through Idaho.

Lots of hills, water and rocks.

As we crossed into Nevada and got into the desert I could feel my throat getting dry, no kidding. I think I drank more water than I ever have before. We were on a stretch of road that was really kind of spooky. Nothing at all for miles except sage brush, cacti and desert. We encountered many ghost towns. The map showed towns, but when we arrived there was nothing but a couple of buildings with CLOSED signs in the windows, or nothing at all-- just boarded up old structures.

I think I took this picture because there were TREES.
We didn't see a lot of those in Nevada. Oh, and you can
see snow on the tops of the mountains in the back.

We didn't camp in Nevada. I was glad we didn't have to. We saw a couple of campgrounds along the way, but I wouldn't really go so far as to call them campgrounds. There was nothing there.

We made it to Chuck's sister's by Friday evening. On our way we stopped in a town called Tonopah and visited a great candy store. The night before we had made a pit stop at a Burger King and some nice women there told us about the candy.
They had a little bit of everything at the candy store, and the kids loved it. Chuck found peanut butter malted balls. Wow. Soooo good.

Candy. Everywhere there was candy.

Our time at Colleen and Steve's was so nice and relaxing. They have a beautiful home on 10 acres, complete with a volleyball court, a stage where their teenaged son and his band perform, and so many great things for the kids to do. Steve and Colleen love animals, and they have a couple of goats, some doves, dogs and toads.

Steve and Colleen have a beautiful home on 10 acres.

We stayed in their casita and spent the days poolside.

This was our home for a couple of days, just out the back door of the main house.

Sean loved handling the doves in the bird cage. It's large, with bird
houses on posts for them to perch, and has a
little pond in the middle.

They have two goats, Heidi and Rascal.

This toad was hopping around on the back patio one night. Sean loved it.

Father's Day was a big celebration with about 50 people and a lot of games. We had dune buggy racing, dodge ball, golf, and lots of other games.

Chuck took me on a wild ride around the dune buggy track.

It was great to meet Chuck's sisters Colleen and Carla, and I met a lot of other people too. Such a nice bunch. We had a great time.

Since we could, we took a different route home. Instead of Idaho, we went through Oregon. Again, so pretty.

On our way out of Nevada we stopped at the Candy Store and loaded up again, and when we got to Hawthorne we needed gas. We saw a museum and decided to swing in and take a look. Hawthorne was a big military area at one time.

This nice man enjoyed telling us about
some of the exhibits, and demonstrated this weapon
for all of us.

I had to snap a shot of the fire memorabilia.

And I couldn't resist these Sac Bee clippings.
I'm a former hive dweller.

We crossed into California and tried to find a campground, but they were all for RVs. We gave up and stayed in the Sierra Motel.

It was nice, and we got free breakfast at Nicole's Cafe the next morning. It was GREAT! If you ever get to Tulelake, Calif. definitely check out Nicole's cooked-to-order breakfast. And we went back after a stop at the grocery so we could get a couple of smoothies. I can't remember what they were called but they were made with green tea and fruit, and they were so good.

It wasn't long and we were in Oregon. Our first night in Oregon we stayed at a KOA campground in Klamath Falls. We decided to make an early stop for the night and let the kids unwind. Instead of pitching the tents, Chuck rented one of the small cabins. It had bunk beds, which the kids loved. It was warm in Klamath Falls, and we took advantage of the pool.
Lilly and Sean decided this was even better than sleeping in a tent.

Neat bunk beds, and we all enjoyed the cabin at the KOA.

The next morning the kids wanted to go out for breakfast at Denny's, then we were on our way to the central part of Oregon.
Our destination: fossil beds. Chuck and I were pretty excited about this stop. He loves rocks, and we took a lot of pictures of rocks on this trip. We are all interested in history and fossils and that kind of stuff, so I was hoping we could spend the better part of a day exploring the fossil beds.

This is so random.
There are lots of shoes, and a couple of bras in this tree.
Pretty sure this was in Oregon, the day we were going
to see the Fossil Beds.

(Chuck is so great. I saw this tree and he knew I would like to get a picture. He turned around and went back so I could get this shot.)

After what seemed like a really long drive we arrived at the Fossil Beds. It was BLAZING hot. So hot we couldn't stand the thought of hiking on the trial to explore the fossils. I don't think we had enough water with us to go any distance on that trail. We all agreed it was too much for us. Chuck and I went a short distance just to see what the trail was like and we took a couple of pictures of some fossils.
A nice park ranger gave us a pamphlet and Chuck suggested we return later in the year when it won't be so hot.

These are the palisades, and boulders have tumbled from these
and landed at the bottom. There are fossils in them.

Like this one. It was the first boulder we came across, so I took
a couple of photos of this, we explored some of the signs
located on that trail, then gave up because of the heat.

I love dragonflies, and when we got to the car we found
these two guys on my seat. They hung around for a while,
flitting in and out of the car.

On the way out of there we stumbled onto a little ghost town called Shaniko that has been preserved. We had to take a road that would connect us to 97, and as we came to the stop sign I saw an old Texaco sign. I wanted a picture of it, but when I looked over to my right, Chuck and I both said, "Oh, wow, there's the town."

It's well preserved, but it didn't seem to be open for business.

The hotel is for sale, and we peeked inside and it's beautiful.

There were a lot of things like this in the town.

It was so neat, and Chuck found a 1918 Le France fire engine in the museum, which was really just an old barn with a lot of old cars and horse buggies inside. We plan to visit this place again later in the summer.

We made it to the Columbia River Gorge and had our eye on a campground there. But the kids really wanted another KOA experience. We found a KOA with even bigger cabins.

This was a nice cabin, but the train track was very close.
I expected to be up all night, but it stopped running at around 10 p.m.

The kids both got a top bunk, and Chuck and I had a separate room. No pool, but nice place and we met some people there. Sean enjoyed playing with the kids and even got a couple of pen pals to write to.

I expected Sean and Lilly to be sick of each other after that many days cramped in the back seat, and spending so much time together. It was really opposite. It seemed the more days went by, the better they were getting along. When we got home they seemed happy to be back, but were having more fun together than when we left on the trip. I think they finally got to know each other. They had a few moments that were trying our patience, but we all made it work.

A lot of people told us this would be the test for our relationship. We passed. We can't wait to go on our next adventure.

A tiny scrapbook of our vacation

2011-06-24T13:59:00.001-07:00

Another free scrapbook design by Smilebox

Family Weekend

2011-06-08T21:05:00.000-07:00

Our weekend was focused on family.

Friday afternoon we had a cookout so Chuck's family could say hello and goodbye to his son Alex. Alex was heading back to San Diego after spending a couple of weeks here. It was the first time I had met him. He is in the Coast Guard and stationed in San Diego. Chuck's father was also in town, so we had a little get together on Friday evening. It was my first time meeting him as well.

I picked Sean up from school and we spent the evening at Chuck's. His sister Cindy and her family came over, and his aunt Gerry and uncle Jerry. Of course Lilly was there also. It was great to meet new people and spend some time with his family.

Chuck had to work a 24-hour shift on Saturday, and we did our Fire Station Open House visit on Saturday. (See previous post.) That evening I took the kids to see a movie, and Sean and I stayed Saturday night.

Sunday I got up early and was not expecting Chuck to be back before I had to leave for church. He surprised me and was home in time for breakfast.

Sean was milling around doing his usual thing, but he also found a cardboard box and got inspired to make a costume. I think Chuck cut the rope, but the rest was Sean's creation.

He has become a fan of the movie "Predator."

That evening we herded the cats (kids) into the car and went to see a play at Seattle Children's Theatre. "Jackie and Me." It was good, but not my favorite. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it. We got there a little late, it was sold out so seating was tight. We had to sit at the back and not all of us could sit in the same row. Sean got restless, and I was distracted.

After the play we went to explore Seattle Center. Unfortunately I left my camera in the car and didn't get any pictures of the really huge fountain that sprays on some kind of repeated pattern. Sean and Chuck went down to try their luck at running to touch the center of it before it started to spray again.

We were getting hungry, so we left to find a place to eat dinner. We found a pizza place close to the theatre. It was good, but the kids were both being difficult. My stomach had been iffy all day, and I just wasn't in the best mood, either.

But I did get a nice picture of this pretty flower on the table.

After dinner we dropped Lilly off at her mom's. It had been a very full day, so we came home and collapsed.

Sean snapped this pic of Lilly's Pug in the car on
the way to drop her off at her mom's.

Training Day

2011-06-06T12:14:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the Open House at our local fire department. Chuck was on shift that day so Sean and I stayed at Chuck's and had a day with Lilly. We invited Kyle to come along with us for the Open House because they were training for extrication and would be using the big tools to cut cars. He loved it the last time we took him with us to visit the fire station, so we thought he'd enjoy watching the guys work.

It was a busy day for us. We picked up Kyle and went back to Chuck's for a quick breakfast before heading to the fire station. We got there and they were lifting a car. While that is important work and all, it was a bit slow for the boys. Not much action, and not much to see. Just air being pumped into a special square mat that inflates to slowly lift a car that has landed on its side.

Chuck said they would be cutting the car after lunch, so we headed back home and the boys explored the property until time to go back.

Jaws of Life.

This was more our speed. The guys were scurrying around, cutting the windshield, jamming those Jaws of Life into the door and prying it open.

They use these cutters that cut through the metal so they can get to the patient trapped inside the car.

These cars come from the wrecking yard. The guys train with them, cut them up, burn them or whatever, then they are hauled away and another one gets dropped off for the next training exercise.

It was fun to watch. Kyle and Sean were really well-behaved and paid attention, and we all got to hang out with Chuck while he supervised the training. They were almost finished cutting the car up when a medical call came through. Chuck sent a few on the call and the rest stayed to finish the training.
We bought a few things at the rummage sale, then headed for home to eat some lunch and hang out until time to take Kyle home. We were loving the warm, sunny day.

New Patty Recipe

2011-06-01T17:13:00.000-07:00

Chuck and Marsha's Fantastic Salmon Patties. ;~)
Recipe at
the bottom of the page.

I'm not a chef, and though I cook every day, I wouldn't call myself a great cook. I do what is necessary. I'm not much of a food person. I like it, but I'm not that excited about food. There are a few things that I really like, and salmon is one of those foods.

Chuck loves food. We both like fresh food and try to stay away from prepackaged and processed stuff. We also both like working together in the kitchen. But I have a lot going on in my life, so learning how to be a gourmet cook is not on my priority list. I don't think he cares. He has certain foods he's good at preparing, and I have some that I'm good at.

Last week he cooked a whole salmon. (He has restaurant experience, so he is a pretty good cook.) We had it for dinner one night, and there was a lot left over. The next day we made tossed salads with salmon sprinkled in it for lunch, and fettuccine alfredo with salmon and mushrooms that night. There was still salmon left, and we needed to eat it before it was bad.

I looked for leftover salmon recipes, but didn't want to spend a lot of time or money finding ingredients just so we could eat this salmon and not waste it.

I found a recipe for salmon patties, but we didn't have all of the ingredients. Chuck suggested we just come up with a salmon patty recipe on our own.

Together we decided egg was a definite ingredient to hold it together. Then we added some bread crumbs. The recipe I found called for potatoes, but we agreed it didn't need to be something to stretch the amount of salmon, we needed to use it up quickly.

We formed some of the mixture into a patty and fried it in a pan. We thought it was OK, but it was a little too crumbly.
I suggested something like a thick sauce to hold it together better, and the only thing we had that made some kind of sense was tarter sauce. We fried one that way, and then did one with bread crumbs on the outside to make it crispy. Both were tasty, but we liked the one without bread crumbs on the outside better.

He thought we might be full from all of the taste testing before dinner was ready.

I ate the last salmon patty for lunch today. I do love salmon, but I think I'm good for a while. Well, I could probably still eat some smoked salmon and cream cheese with a great piece of sourdough bread. Oh, I do love that.

Here's an attempt at the recipe, but I really can't be sure how much of each ingredient we had except the eggs.

About 2 cups of baked, crumbled salmon (be sure you remove the bones.)
1/2 cup of Italian bread crumbs
about a teaspoon of tarragon
teaspoon or so of sage (I looked in his cabinet and chose whatever said "good on fish," but I'm sure these can be perfected more with other ingredients. We were using what we had.)
2 eggs
1/4 to 1/3 cup of tarter sauce
Combine all ingredients, form into patties. The patties should be a bit goopy, but you don't want a little salmon with your sauce, you want a little sauce with your salmon kind of goopy.
Fry in a skillet over medium heat, just long enough to have a nice golden brown patty.
Serve on bread of your choice with mayo or tarter sauce and fresh lettuce.

Pride and Reverence

2011-05-31T13:35:00.000-07:00

Flags unfurled during the Aisle of Honor service, Vaughn Cemetery, May 29.

As we make our way to town to shop, or to school, or hang out at the park, we frequently see military aircraft flying overhead. Navy, Air Force and Army have bases and posts near here. Ours has been a military family, though I didn't grow up a military brat. Uncles, aunts, and cousins have served and still serve.
I was humbled this weekend.
One of the communities close to ours holds a service every Memorial Day for our veterans of all wars. It is one of the most spectacular sights. There are 290 casket flags set in the ground. For me, the size of those flags and the number was overwhelming.

Chuck was one of six who called the roll of fallen veterans
Each speaker had a notebook with pages filled with the names,
branch of service and if they served in a war, the war in which they served.

Chuck was asked to be a speaker at the service this year to read a portion of the 360 names of the veterans those flags represent.
Some families choose to have one flag for several family members who served. The names are read, along with their branch and the war in which they served. Some dated to the Civil War, and the Spanish-American War.
The photos of this place don't do it justice. It is beyond description to see the huge flags lining the cemetery, fully unfurled.
Gray skies and wind provided a crisp day, but the flags were beautiful. The cotton flags are the most vibrant. Some of them are nylon, and I much prefer the cotton flags.

One of the bagpipers who played
during the service.

Leading up to the Memorial Day weekend I had been trying to decide how to cover an event in a neighboring city. The Gig Harbor Fire Department was bringing back a piece of the World Trade Center May 30. I got word that our fire department was going to be in the escort, so I sent a photographer to cover it for us.
I was hoping I could be there, but had to attend an emergency meeting just when the ceremony was scheduled to begin at the station headquarters.
I was, as usual, a little late getting out the door. I had hoped to leave the house by 2:30 to make it to my meeting at 3 p.m. I got out the door and realized I had forgotten something in the house, so came back in to get it. This put me about five minutes behind schedule.
As I approached the Tacoma Narrows Bridge I saw the procession coming toward me. I was so glad I had been delayed. If I had left the house on time I would have missed it.
I didn't get photos, but our photographer did. You can view them here.

Duck, duck, geo (pronounced gooey)

2011-05-25T21:03:00.000-07:00

We live in an area that has a lot of sea life, hence a lot of seafood. Restaurants serve it, and a lot of people around here enjoy fishing, clamming, crabbing and such. I'm not a native of this area. My mother was, but somehow she never acquired a taste for seafood.

I grew up in the South, and we weren't anywhere near the sea. I had heard of these sea creatures that people enjoy eating, but we didn't partake.

When friends visit from other regions we like to take them to a place in Seattle called Uwajimaya so they can get a close look at the geoduck and octopus for sale. Another great place is the Pike Place Market, where they make a show out of the fish orders. It really is fun to watch.

But back to my point. I had never seen a geoduck in its habitat. I heard we have them on our beaches, but I had never seen them.

Chuck is a native of the area, and he loves all seafood. Loves geoduck. So last week he took me with him to dig for a couple of geoducks--the limit with a license.

They poke up out of the sand like this.

They were everywhere on this particular beach.

I thought you had to dig really fast for them, because I've seen people digging before. I guess it depends on the beach and the type of sand.

He's marking off the area.

He said he looks for ones that are big, but the big ones are usually really deep. He got the first one pretty quickly and without any trouble.

He went for a big one, and we decided it was a grandpa and had eluded many geoduckers.

He dug a deep hole and was reaching as far as he could for the big one. The shell is anchored deep in the sand and they stretch up with their necks. As you dig the hole, the geoduck pulls its neck back down toward the shell. Chuck was determined, and dug the hole larger, but eventually gave up.
He got one decent sized geoduck and one medium and we were finished.

Yeah, I know.

I already know I don't like them, because I tried a razor clam once with Jewel and Bjorn in Montesano. The diner was famous for its razor clams and the waitress told us if we didn't like that, we wouldn't like geoduck.

Desmond Tutu in Tacoma

2011-05-14T15:00:00.000-07:00

Living in the Pacific Northwest is great. Sometimes I get tired of the gray and the rain, but most days I'm really glad I live here. There are so many opportunities to do things that other areas of the country just don't have.

Months ago I heard that Archbishop Desmond Tutu was coming to our area, and that he is retiring and this would be one of his last appearances. I asked Chuck if he was interested, and at first I thought of taking Sean. We talked it over and decided the kids would be bored, but we'd like to go.

I've admired Desmond Tutu for a long time. You can read more about him here.

I got tickets late in the game, so the only seats left were in the rafters. I had an email telling about parking, and at the event parking was $20, so we decided to get as close as we could, but not pay $20. We paid $15 and parked in the Brown and Haley parking lot--home of the Mountain Bar. (Another post for another time.)

We didn't have to walk very far, and it was a nice evening for a walk anyway.
It wasn't exactly what I expected, but it was great. There was a lot of entertainment. You can see pics here posted by Weekly Volcano. Outside was almost as interesting as inside :-) I do love a good bunch of diverse causes all in one place...

Unfortunately I opted to leave my camera, thinking I wouldn't be able to zoom in close enough for a good photo of anything from our rafter seats. I wish I had brought it along.

After a lot of great entertainment, Craig Kielburger inspired us all with his story of how he started Free the Children. You can read all about that here, and you can read about Craig's story here. It is truly amazing how one person, a little kid, can get passionate about something and with the help of his friends bring about a wonderful change in the world.

Eleven of his friends joined him, and there is a personal thing for Chuck about the number 11. We both looked at each other and smiled. But then it hit me that with Craig that made 12, and I thought of the 12 desciples.

Kielburger said he asked Archbishop Desmond Tutu what he should call him, and he answered that his friends call him The Arch. The Arch was amazing. As he spoke about how God enlists the help of his human partners to bring about change in a hurting world, I once again thought of that 12-year-old Craig and his 11 friends.

There are examples of remarkable children, teens, adults all around us. Kielburger said he told The Arch he stopped reading the newspaper because of the depressing headlines. The Arch told him he sees it as God's To Do List delivered to his door each morning.

I sat with Chuck over breakfast this morning and as we turned the pages of the Tacoma News Tribune and I sighed, Chuck said, "Remember, it's God's To Do List."

And He can't do it without us. I hope you will click on those links and get inspired to partner with God and make a change where you live.

Guns, Fish and Mother's Day

2011-05-09T11:04:00.000-07:00

I had no real expectations for Mother's Day. It has never been a really big day for me. Years past I always got a nice card from each of my kids, usually handmade at school or church. I've kept them all, and they are so special to me.

But when it comes to a big day of doting and pampering on Mother's Day, it's not really me.
So leading up to Mother's Day Chuck was asking what I'd like to do. I had no real preference.

Saturday we spent the day at the Livable Community Fair. I worked the newspaper booth and Chuck worked a couple of booths, including the fire department. Both kids hung out with us there and had a fun time. There were activities to keep Sean busy, like the trout pond, and the touch a truck event.
His favorite was the military area where there were trucks and a couple of sniper guns and camo the kids could explore.

I went looking for Sean and found him here.
I recognized his shoes.

There were big trucks from the electric company and a tow truck that was enormous. Of course the fire trucks were there, and the military had a large repair unit. I didn't get the skinny on that, but heard others talking about it.

Sean caught a few fish, but threw them back. Lilly caught one and gave hers away.

The trout pond is always a big hit with the kids.

We had a fun day there, even though Chuck and I were both sort of working. After the fair we had dinner together and watched a movie.

Mother's Day was great. I came back from church and was greeted by happy children and a wonderful man who had somehow taken them shopping for gifts. Maybe they went shopping while I was at church, because I can't figure out when he could have taken them without me.

(Chuck told me to just leave Sean with him and he'd bring him to church after he studied for his class.)

Sean chose a nice garden decoration of a dragonfly (one of my favorites), and Lily got me earrings that match the necklace Chuck gave me for Christmas.

The four of us had lunch at El Sombrero. Sean was being difficult because he didn't want to eat Mexican, and Chuck was so wonderful with him. He totally understands him and knows how to handle him. Though Sean said he didn't want to eat, and didn't want a drink, Chuck ordered for him anyway and said "just in case you get hungry or thirsty." We allowed him to have his moment, and Chuck explained there are four of us now and there will be times when not all of us are happy, but we will all have a turn at getting what we want.

Sean sat under the table and we didn't react. We ignored it and eventually he reached for his plate and took it under the table. Then he got tired of eating alone and came back up and sat with us and ate his burger. We didn't react or mention it, and he blended right in with us.

This gentle way of doing things is opposite of the way I parented Dave and Jewel, but it totally works with Sean. The tools I used with them don't work with Sean. He is not a child I can force, and I appreciate that Chuck sees that and knows just what to do with him.

After lunch we spent a little more time together before Chuck had to take Lily back to her mom's.

Fathers are a big part of making Mother's Day special. I really appreciated that Chuck took Sean to shop, although it wasn't necessary. I would have been just as happy with a rock or leaf or some weed from the yard. The fact that Lily got me a gift was very touching.

Jewel and Dave called in the afternoon and evening, and I feel so blessed to be a mother. It was a wonderful Mother's Day.

Terrific Kid

2011-05-02T18:09:00.000-07:00

Principal, Mrs. Bond, reads his teacher's comments
as Sean gets his award.

I would guess that most parents believe they have terrific kids. We all have our moments when maybe we think otherwise, but in the quiet moments the sweet and wonderful things come to mind.

It is so for me. I believe my kids are all some of the best in the world. I've told each of them that I thank God for them every day.

I have mixed feelings about awards. I know a lot of people really like them and think awards motivate, but I'm not sure I agree.

So when I found out Sean's school hands out Terrific Kid awards I wasn't all that thrilled. Each month Sean would come home bummed out because he wasn't chosen as a terrific kid. He thought he was doing everything right, he wasn't getting into any trouble, etc.

I kept telling him he is a terrific kid and we don't need other people to tell us that. I encouraged him to keep doing the things that make him feel good about himself and who he is.

This month he was chosen. The theme this month was Inspirational. So each kid who was chosen had to be inspirational in some way.
Here's what Sean's teacher wrote on the back of his award:
Sean has this uncanny ability to stay calm. I've watched him choose to ignore mean behavior with stone-like ability. He inspires me to be more patient.

After the ceremony I took him out for ice cream. We saw another Terrific Kid recipient at the same Baskin Robins and the dad said to Sean, "Hey, you're the one that got the award for being patient, aren't you?"
Sean was very proud of his award. He also got a pencil and a badge. I'm proud of him, and glad he was chosen, but I'm still on the fence with the award stuff. I like the idea of pride from within instead of relying on outside praise.

Washington, My Home

2011-04-28T22:42:00.000-07:00

It was a lesson in state history and songs, and the music program at Sean's school was very cute. I took some pictures, but most of them have a lot of kids in them and I don't want to post those without the parents' permission.

The songs were all about Washington, and things and places here. There were songs about Tacoma, Puget Sound, and even a Geoduck Song.

Chuck went with us, and Sean's dad was there, too.
All the kids did a great job. It reminded me of the programs at the school David and Jewel attended when they were in kindergarten and first grade. I like small schools.

After the program we stopped for dinner and time for Sean to get some of his nervous energy out before coming home.

It was a good end to a great day. I started the day by making calls to all of my friends and family in the South. Tornados ripped through there yesterday and the destruction is unbelievable. Death count was more than 280 today. Some of the places I've spent time and visited have been devastated.

After accounting for everyone and finding out they were all OK, I went to spend time with Chuck on his day off. We had a great morning and ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant - El Sombrero. It's always nice to reconnect and catch up with what's going on after being apart for a few days. He was on shift a lot this week, and taking care of some important stuff on the days in between.

We both have been feeling a little overwhelmed by all of the responsibilities and obligations we have. I said I feel like I have too many jobs, and he said he feels that way too. We put our phones aside for more than an hour to have a decent conversation and time together, and ignored them as they buzzed and rang. Can't do that for very long or it just makes that overwhelmed feeling worse.

I left his place and it was run, run, run. Check messages, return calls, make calls, get Sean from school, rush home, check emails, and get ready for the program. I'm so glad we had a few hours to stop and relax before we had to hit the ground running again.

I got this list through someone on Facebook, but it goes along with the program tonight, "Washington, My Home." It will give you a glimpse of what people do, and are like, in our wonderful state.

If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in Washington.
If you've worn shorts, sandals and a parka at the same time, you live in Washington.
If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed the wrong number, you live in Washington.
If you measure distance in hours, you live in Washington.
If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in Washington.
If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C' and back again in the same day, you live in Washington.
If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in Central, Southern, or Eastern Washington.
If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over 2 layers of clothes or under a raincoat, you live in Washington.
If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow and ice, you live in Washington.
If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction, you live in Washington.
If you feel guilty throwing aluminum cans or paper in the trash, you live in Washington.
If you know more than 10 ways to order coffee, you live in Washington.
If you know more people who own boats than air conditioners, you live in Washington.
If you stand on a deserted corner in the rain waiting for the "Walk" signal, you live in Washington.
If you consider that if it has no snow or has not recently erupted, it is not a real mountain, you live in Washington.
If you can taste the difference between Starbucks, Seattle's Best, and Tullys, you live in Washington.
If you know the difference between Chinook, Coho and Sockeye salmon, you live in Washington.
If you know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup, Issaquah, Snoqualmie, Wenatchee, Spokane, Umpqua, Yakima, and Willamette, you live in Washington.
If you consider swimming an indoor sport, you live in Washington.
If you can tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese and Thai food, you live in Washington.
If you never go camping without waterproof matches and a poncho, you live in Washington.
If you have actually used your mountain bike on a mountain, you live in Washington.
If you think people who use umbrellas are either wimps or tourists, you live in Washington.
If you buy new sunglasses every year because you cannot find the old ones after such a long time, you live in Washington.
If you actually understand these jokes and forward them to all your Washington friends, you live or have lived in Washington. By: Laurece Bonner Rust

Eggs, Baskets, Food and Love

2011-04-25T13:41:00.000-07:00

I put all work aside and Sean and I spent the whole weekend with Chuck and Lilly.
Dinner is always a question when we have the kids, but Chuck had a pizza kit from a fundraiser and we all voted yes on that for our Friday night dinner. Sean loved helping put it all together. We added a little veggie and olives because the kit came with only pepperoni.

Mmm. Pizza.

Friday night is always a good night for a movie, so we went to the store and found "Gulliver's Travels." Pretty cute. Chuck wanted us to come back Saturday for breakfast, and we had a full day planned for all of us.
He always puts on a big spread for breakfast. It was cinnamon rolls, French toast, sausage and eggs. I brought Greek yogurt, granola and fresh berries. (I know, healthy.) We all had a little bit of everything and it was really good. Plus he has this beautiful antique china he used and the table was gorgeous. I'll post about it again soon.

After breakfast Sean and Chuck went outside to work and Sean came in and told me about a slingshot he saw at the store while he was with Chuck. I suggested he could make one and Chuck could probably help him.

We walked the property to find just the right tree with the right kind of branch. Chuck took a saw and next thing I knew they were in the house again with the base of it, needing someone with sewing ability to make the cloth to attach to the rubber band for the sling.

I'll post about this again later. We left it at Chuck's and I don't have a good photo of it.

That morning I took Lilly to shop for a new dress. Dad gave us money and we took off. The thought was to get a dress she could wear to church, but she's still not really comfortable with the idea of going to church with us yet.

But we lucked out on the shopping trip with a big sale at the store Justice. She got a couple of skirts, a pair of really cute shorts and two tops. She tried on a lot of stuff and we had fun oohing and ahhing over some of the styles.

On the way back Lilly asked if Sean and I could spend the night. She offered her bed for him and I said we'd see what he thought of it.

When we got back, the guys had been working on the property with the backhoe and were already planting some trees on the lower end. The plan is to devote part of the property to trees and within five or six years have a Christmas Tree farm.

Sean had a great time driving the backhoe. He helped keep the fire going to burn some of the brush and they worked outside most of the day.

They took a break to come in and color Easter eggs. Chuck had 36 eggs to color.

Sean and Lilly coloring the eggs.

We all had a great time coloring eggs and getting creative. We like the little sleeves that dip into hot water and shrink around the eggs.

After the egg activity, Chuck and Sean went back outside to work some more.
Sean came in around dinner time and said he didn't feel well. I mentioned spending the night, and mabye he and Lilly could make a blanket fort or something. It wasn't 30 minutes later and he fell asleep. Chuck, Lilly and I watched another movie, "Uptown Girls" while Sean slept. It was good. Then it was really bedtime. Sean was still asleep on the couch, so the rest of us went to bed.

We woke up Easter morning and the Easter Bunny had left a basket for Sean and Lilly.

Sean got a magnet kit to paint, and Lilly got a friends bracelet kit.

Chuck, Sean and I got to church in time for the youth breakfast of pancakes and sausage. Church was packed, of course, and it was a really nice service.

On the way back from church we stopped to visit my grandma for a little while, then headed back to Chuck's for the day. We wanted to hide eggs, and have a nice Easter celebration. It was rainy, but we made the best of it and the kids went out to find eggs when it had stopped raining.

Lilly and Sean had a great time searching for eggs in the yard.

The guys worked outside a little bit more and Lilly and I watched "Tangled," until it was time for me to start dinner. I had a recipe for rack of lamb and fried artichoke hearts. I had never made either of those things, but it didn't sound very difficult.
Chuck helped me trim the artichokes and we followed the recipe exactly. The only difference could have been the recipe called for baby artichokes, and the only ones I could find were probably not baby artichokes. That part of the dinner was a big fail. It sounded really good, and maybe it is good with baby artichokes. Ours weren't cooked enough, and I'm not sure they are worth all of the work to peel it down to the good part.
They look pretty, though.

I should have taken a picture of them in the serving bowl. It was really pretty.

The lamb turned out really nice, but a bit undercooked. Chuck sliced it and we put it back into the oven for a few minutes. The recipe called for medium rare, but I don't like meat much in the first place. Dripping blood is not appealing to me at all.

We had a great weekend together. Not sure if the artichokes will make it into the Easter tradition, but the egg coloring was a hit. The kids seem to be a bit vegetarian, so the next holiday meal I'll incorporate more veggies into the plan.

Rain? HA, we laugh at rain!

2011-04-16T17:29:00.000-07:00

Chuck got us tickets to the Tacoma Rainiers vs. the Sacramento River Cats game last night. The firefighters union had a party deck reserved, and we thought it'd be a fun thing to do.
As we approached the turn to the parking lot we realized all those cars that were backed up to the last on ramp were in line for that turn. So we made our way to the next option, and that lot was full. We had to park at a nearby high school and walk.
You must understand something about our Pacific Northwest climate. It's gray. Almost all the time.
So the day had been gray, but not wet. By this time it was starting to drizzle, and we weren't sure what the party deck was like. They recently finished renovations at Cheney Stadium. You can read about it and see photos here.
We got to the gate and made our way to the party deck area and were told our party deck was at the top. Yeah, none of those party decks are covered. And it was starting to sort of rain and the wind was picking up.
The umbrellas that are clearly not effective for keeping the rain off of anyone sitting at the tables made it worse.
Not whining or complaining, just sayin'.

These umbrellas were just big enough to almost protect the table, but anyone sitting or standing at the table had a constant drip on their head or back.

On the way to the gate.

Military aircraft doing a fly over to say good luck to the Rainiers.

Play Ball! We're not made of sugar.

We're pretty tough and used to being damp and cold, but after a while it was just too much for us. I looked around and even the kids were hunched over trying to stay dry. It was too distracting trying to keep our food from getting soggy and our hands from freezing to pay attention to the game very much.
We stayed until we couldn't stand it anymore, then made our way back to the car.
Rainiers lost 6-5. But I don't call it a total fail. We had a nice walk, saw some people I hadn't seen in a while, and Chuck and Sean got to eat ballpark food.

Island hop

2011-04-13T12:39:00.000-07:00

So on Friday we took off for Vashon Island to see the bicycle in the tree.
We've been wanting to see this for a while. We've been reading a book by Berkeley Breathed, "Red Ranger Came Calling," for a few years. You can read about it and other Berkeley Breathed books here.
I've blogged about this before, and our excursion to Seattle to see the play based on the book put on by Book-It Theatre. (Lots of fun!!)
You can read more about Book-It Repertory Theatre here.
Since reading the book and seeing the play this Christmas we've talked about exploring Vashon to find the bicycle. Last week Chuck was off, I had a little bit of time, and Lilly was here for a few extra days. It was the perfect time to go.
The weather was awesome! We've had a lot of rain, but Friday was beautiful.
If you ever get to Vashon and want to see the bicycle, go to the left as you exit the ferry and keep going until you come to a stop sign. Stop at the little store on the left side of the road for directions.
We pulled into the parking lot of an old broken down building and the bicycle was in the forest behind that building.
Here's a little tour in pictures:

We love to ride the ferry.

Almost ready to dock at Vashon.

There's a creek, or mushy wet area, you have to walk over to get to the bike. You can see the back wheel in the tree.

A distant view of the treed bike that was supposed to be a Tweed Bike.

It's real. And old.

Sean was convinced Santa put that bike there.

After getting a good look at the bike it was time for lunch. The nice lady at the little store told us about some food places in town. We ate at Zoomies. The island has a mix of all different types of people, and as you can imagine, some crunchies that I can relate to. I ordered the veggie burger, thank you very much. Oh, and they have good ice cream there too.

We hung out in town while the kids ate their ice cream and we visited a furniture shop. We've been looking at furniture, so we stopped in to take a look around. The kids loved one of the chairs that is like a bed. We had a tough time getting them out of it.

We had some time before the next ferry so we decided to explore the lighthouse on Maury Island. It was closed. It doesn't open until May, but the beach was great.

Sean loved it.

Lilly found some ladybug friends.

Sean found some kids to play with.

I found this cool log to photograph.

All of those kids got wet and sandy when these big waves made it to shore. They didn't mind the 60 degree weather and the cold water. They ran through the surf and threw sand at each other for a while. Lilly opted out of that fun.

Luckily I had these pants in the car so Sean could have something dry. Once we got to Tacoma we stopped at a Goodwill to buy a new outfit.

We always have a great time together. It was a perfect day. (Lilly got this pic of Chuck.)

Time in the car.

Lilly.

Sean.

Boy Time

2011-04-10T15:37:00.000-07:00

We've been talking for a while about what to do while Chuck had a week off. Sean wanted to make a trip to Monroe to the Reptile Zoo. It's one of our favorite places to visit, especially when the weather isn't fit for spending time outside.
Lilly was not interested in going, so we planned the trip for a day when she was not going to be with us. I kept Sean out of school that day and we headed out early.
He enjoys holding this certain snake while we're there. It's an albino corn snake. He would like to have one of his own, but I'm not so excited about the idea. It seems like a lot of work to me.

Sean insisted Chuck had to have a turn at holding it too.

What is sexy?

2011-04-01T00:32:00.000-07:00

I guess there are a lot of answers to that question.

I know some women find it sexy when a man recognizes their physical needs, emotional needs, maybe the need for more compliments.

Some women need a man who will shower them with compliments. They want a man who will tell them constantly how beautiful they are, how skinny they look in every outfit when asked. Even if they're wearing something that makes them look like they've swallowed an inner tube or have the rear end of a hippo. They find this man sexy.

Some women need a man who can read minds. They want a man who knows immediately when they are mad and why they are mad.

Some women need a man who will work from a list--the Honey Do list.

There is nothing wrong with any of that. I suppose all of those things could be sexy.

I take compliments when they are given and appreciate them, but have never been one to ask a question about how I look if I didn't want a truthful answer. I don't find false compliments sexy.

I don't need a man who can read my mind. I figure if I can't read his, he probably can't read mine. And I know that I cannot read minds. I'm intuitive, and that could be another blog post, but I really cannot read minds.

I don't need a man who works from a list that I create for him. I don't find that at all sexy.

I won't go into the physical needs. I don't really talk about these things with my female friends, so I don't know what they expect in that area.
And all I am willing to say about my own experience is: It's good.

But what I find equally sexy is a man who can see that I need my Chicago Cutlery knives sharpened. Without a word he brings his knife sharpener over to my house and sharpens every knife.

Sexy for me is a man who replaces the filter in my furnace without me asking. He just comes right in with three filters, places a new one in the furnace and stores the other two for the future.

And this man who will buy new windshield wipers and install them on my car without me knowing, and before I have to drive to a meeting in the rain--oh, wow. That is sexy.

Southern evening

2011-03-29T16:57:00.000-07:00

Chuck and I attended a house party this weekend to see Tom Kimmel. He read from his book of poems, "The Sweetest and the Meanest," and some new pieces. It was some of the most entertaining poetry I've heard in a long time. He is really funny and humble and seems like such a nice man.
The view from the house is incredible, with the water and mountains and a couple of hummingbirds flitting for the feeder outside the window.
After a break he played guitar, sang songs, told some stories, read more poetry. He entertained a small crowd, but packed house of about 50.
This song is from the movie Serendipity. It struck a cord for us, so I'm linking it here. It's called, "When you know." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riR4cscYGlY
But he has a lot of songs that are really good. Other artists like Linda Ronstadt, Johnny Cash, Randy Travis and Waylon Jennings have recorded his songs.
He was born in Memphis, raised in Alabama, and has lived in Nashville for a long time, so it was nice to listen to him talk. Felt like I was home. His Southern humor and personality were refreshing. I loved hearing him talk about his family, read the poems centered around Southern family and experiences, and his church experience as a child.
We had a really good time, and saw some familiar faces.

Night Out x2

2011-03-23T14:23:00.000-07:00

At the Citizen of the Year Banquet.

Chuck is growing his hair, mustache and sideburns for an upcoming event. He plans to go back to his clean-cut ways once that event is over, but I kind of like this look.

Photo by Ed Johnson

Earlier this month Chuck and I attended the Feast or Famine dinner on Mardi Gras night. That event is intended to bring awareness to the world's hunger problem. This year was a little different and it focused on the needs of our local community. The speaker was our newly elected county council member Stan Flemming. He is a physician and has spent time in Haiti helping with the medical needs of earthquake victims. He and his cousin built a clinic there.

So he talked a bit about the needs of people there, and the needs of people in our community.

Last time I went I was assigned to the group that got thin broth. Only 10 percent of the population is assigned to the feast, and for this event that means a prime rib meal with baked potato, salad, etc. The middle group gets enough, but not anything extra, and the largest population receives the broth.

This year there wasn't broth. The largest population got red beans and rice. I really like red beans and rice, so I wasn't disappointed. For me the prime rib was not a desirable meal, but that's because I don't really eat steak or red meat.

Our table won the desert auction and chose a decadent chocolate cake.

Last weekend was another night out for us, but this time we took the kids.

The Citizen of the Year banquet was held at our local civic center on Saturday evening. We were guests of a nominee who happens to be a volunteer at the Key Peninsula News. We had four who were nominated, but they all do more than just volunteer for the paper.

There are many small communities within the larger community of the Key Peninsula. Each one is unique and has its own story. And each one is functioning because of the many people who volunteer in so many ways to make things happen.

The banquet is put on by the local Lions Club, and people nominate volunteers they believe are deserving of recognition. I think most of the nominees invite guests to fill their table for the event. There is a raffle and drink tickets for purchase.

Each nominee is recognized, and at the end of the night there is one volunteer who is chosen as the Citizen of the Year. It's a nice way to give a nod to those people who devote so much time to making things work.

We run the photos and bios of each nominee in our paper. I admit it is a total pain in my rear to get all of this information put together, then it goes to the layout person who probably has an equally painful experience. But it's something our readers enjoy. They like seeing their neighbors in the paper and reading about the many things they are volunteering for in the community.

The fire chief was a nominee but couldn't attend, so Chuck was asked to stand in his place during the recognition ceremony.

I'm not sure the kids really paid attention to much. They were waiting for the chance to play a Wii or watch a movie in another part of the building.

The dinner was catered by a local chef, Dorne Webster. There were many local dignitaries in attendance, and we made our rounds.

This is a busy month. It's not over yet.

Neighborly Influence

2011-03-20T14:16:00.000-07:00

One of my fond memories from childhood is the time I spent with Mr. Rogers. Though he was only a man on TV that I couldn't actually talk to or sit with, I distinctly remember feeling as if I was right there with him for that brief 30 minutes each day.

He was really different from all of the grownups I knew. Calm, quiet, methodical, patient. There were many days I wished he could be my real neighbor or even part of my family.
For 30 minutes, which at the age of 5 I had no concept of, I could escape whatever was happening around me. I could go on a field trip to see something I had never seen before, like how crayons were made. I could follow trolley to the land of make believe. There were anchors on that show that made me feel great because I could count on them each day. The sweater, the shoes, feeding the fish, those were all things that made me feel comforted.

I always hated it when Mr. Rogers said goodbye, but loved the way he did it.

There are so many messages that I know I got from him that I may not specifically remember.

As an adult I have seen some of the reruns and watched them with my kids. It is still one of my favorite televisions shows. I love the fact there is no dumbing down on that show. No sing-song baby talk, no gimmicks in an attempt to keep a child's attention. He didn't need gimmicks. He spoke a child's language, yet he never made you feel less than an adult because you were a child.

I never realized there were so many nasty rumors about Mr. Rogers until I started looking on the Internet to confirm dates for his birth, etc.

I guess it's just difficult for people to believe there could be a really good man who loved children. He never served in the military, wasn't violent, wasn't accused of child molestation and wasn't wearing long sleeves to hide tattoos.

He was an ordained Presbyterian minister. He studied music and attended the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Child Development.

Today Mr. Fred Rogers would have turned 83. In 1997 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award and his acceptance speech was remarkable. What a wonderful man. I wish I could have been his neighbor.

"The Trouble with Black Boys"

2011-03-08T16:37:00.000-08:00

When I first read that title I was shocked. It brought up a bit of defensiveness within me, but it also intrigued me. I decided it would be a good fit. It's the book we're reading as part of a project within the school district Sean attends. Community Awareness for Student Achievement is designed to bring together community members to study the impact of poverty and race on student learning.

I wanted to be part of it for a variety of reasons. First, I'm a white mom raising a biracial boy. I invited Chuck to do this with me because he has become a big part of Sean's life. He really is helping me raise him and I think it's important for both of us to know more about the issues facing biracial boys these days. I'm also very passionate about education and believe we should all be doing more to figure out why these boys, especially, are falling through the cracks.

Last night was our first meeting at a high school in the city. We were served dinner, received our books and were put into book club groups. Child care was even provided by the YMCA.

There are nine in our group. We met our facilitator and went to a classroom and got to know a little bit about each other. We then decided to divide the book into chapters, with a couple of people taking each chapter as a focus. Our next meeting will focus on the first half of the book.

These nine people are from different ethnic and professional backgrounds. I think we all have a unique perspective and it's exciting to be part of this project. Our facilitator was in high school during segregation in the South. There are two biracial participants, one is a teacher and the other works with at-risk youth age 16 to 24. There is a woman from Cambodia who works with at-risk students, an Asian principal of an elementary school, a white principal, a white nutritionist who visits elementary schools to teach nutrition, Chuck, who grew up in a diverse environment with friends of all colors, and sees all types of family situations as a firefighter, and myself.

We will read this book as other groups read other titles: "Teaching with Poverty in Mind," "Can We Talk about Race," "The Global Achievement Gap," "Lessons from High Performing Hispanic Schools," and "Whatever it Takes."

Each group will share how new ideas from these books can be incorporated into the way the district educates students.

This district does seem to be very forward thinking and willing to embrace new ways of teaching. There is a renowned psychologist and doctor who is talking tonight about the differences between boys and girls and how best to educate them, and this idea is being implemented at one middle school in the district. I won't be able to attend, but I'm hoping to hear from either a parent or teacher who is going.

Maybe it's a coincidence, but it does seem to me the movie, "Waiting for Superman," has gotten the attention of educators and parents. This district, at least, is trying to look at ways to improve.

How's the weather up there?

2011-03-02T17:48:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid we lived far away from my mom's parents. They lived here in Washington and we lived in Tennessee. Every time my mom would talk to grandma on the phone she would ask about the weather and a weather conversation would ensue.

I always wondered what was so interesting about the weather. Now I understand. I'm sure mom missed this mild climate. She had moved to a place of extremes. Hot and humid in the summer, bitter cold in the winter.

As much as I hate to admit it, I sometimes talk about the weather with my kids, too. They are in Tennessee and I'm here. I remember the days in Tennessee when it would be 65 one day and snow the next. I don't miss the extremes, but I do have fond memories of walking around town after dark on a hot summer night wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top. Can't do that here any time of the year. Some people do, but they are natives. I don't call 65 degrees and a breeze off the water shorts and tank top weather. Maybe after I've been here a while longer...

I also follow a couple of meteorologists on Facebook. I know some people who are addicted to the Weather Channel, and I admit I find it fascinating on some level.

So last week I was out talking to a potential freelance writer who wants to work for the paper. The day began innocently enough. Mild temperature. And by noon it was this:

I called the school to see if they were dismissing early because the roads were pretty bad. The principal answered and said it was up to parents if they wanted to pick up early.

I was ready to go, but had to eat first. My car goes well in snow so I wasn't worried that a few mins. would make a difference getting there to pick Sean up from school. I love snow. I don't really like driving in it here because there are too many people who don't know how to drive in it. They literally abandon their cars in the middle of the road. Last year there were so many people who left their cars on the freeways that the plows couldn't get through to clear the roads. I don't understand it.

So I was kind of excited about this late snow and was hoping it would stick around for a while so we could play in it a bit. As I sat eating, the clouds passed on and the sun came out. By the time I was ready to go the roads were clear.

Oh well. Maybe we'll get another snow in March. It could happen. But most likely it will rain. I just hope this year we'll have spring. Last year we had cold and rain until August. I think we had a week of high temperatures, and that was it. That was summer folks. Then it was on to fall.

I guess the weather can be pretty interesting.

King Tide, Good Conversation and a View

2011-02-23T19:43:00.000-08:00

Last week someone sent me a link to information about something called King Tides. These are really high tides and I was intrigued. We live not far from a bay with a land bridge called a sand spit. On high tide it looks like you could drive right off the road onto the water. If the tides are high and the wind is blowing, that water can get really rough and I love it when it's like that.

I told Chuck about the high tides and how I'd like to be out there to see it. He suggested we go to dinner at an Italian restaurant that sits at the end of the sand spit. It's close to the edge and has large windows with water-view seating. As we drive over the spit on a windy day when the tide is in, the spray comes up really high and we can see it splashing the windows of the restaurant.

After a meeting last night we both had to attend, we went out for a nice dinner and glass of wine. I enjoy having some time alone when we can really immerse ourselves in conversation without interruption. It's rare for us.

We were scheduled for a high tide last night at 8 p.m. It was Tuesday night, so it wasn't very busy at the restaurant. We got a great window seat and had a good view of the water. It was really dark though, so we couldn't see much unless a car drove by and the headlights lit it up a bit.

We were finishing dinner when the wind was picking up and it was starting to get a little wild out there. We could see the spray starting to splash, but we've both seen it do more. We went outside and it was kind of cold. The wind was fierce and the spray was getting us if we got too close to the edge. We only stood there for a minute huddled together. It was enough to let us know we were alive, and we decided we'd had enough.

On the drive back we agreed we have to go back in the summer during another King Tide and eat at the same place.
Wish I could have gotten pics, but it was too dark. We're supposed to have even higher tides tonight.

Dignitaries and muck

2011-02-21T22:53:00.000-08:00

My job is demanding. I am either in front of the computer for hours, or I'm on the road covering an event or showing up at some dinner or meeting to be seen in the community.
Sean has gotten very used to this lifestyle. If he's home, he has to tag along to all these things. I typically let him do his thing at these events and today was no different. Sean was on school break today for President's Day.
He first said he would wait in the car, but I knew that wouldn't last long. I was standing in the cool 40 degree Puget Sound breeze as we waited for the ribbon cutting of a new wharf and turned to see Sean across the road on an embankment.
At that very moment, Chuck was arriving in the command vehicle and saw that I was trying to both coax Sean to me, yet wanting him to stay put until traffic went by. Chuck was able to grab him for me and get him to an area where he would be entertained. THE BEACH.

While I was shaking some hands and snapping some shots of dignitaries just in case I need them for the paper, Sean was digging in the muck. Wearing his $100 jeans from his grandma. They got a little muddy.

He found a hermit crab and brought it up to show me and I didn't realize how far down it was to the beach. Chuck and I walked around to that side and I asked how in the world Sean got down there.
"He's a boy," he said. "He climbed down." Sean was so excited. That beach was full of little crabs, so he was turning over rocks and watching them swarm and catching some of them. He ventured closer to the water and said, "I found an eel!" He came back up with this little guy.

He showed it to a couple of people and said, "Be careful. He's tired." He let me take a picture of it, then I suggested the eel was probably ready to go back home because they don't really like to be out of the water.
He said when he put it back in the shallow water it found a clam hole and was so fast he couldn't catch it again.

Predictions of a New Language

2011-02-17T17:40:00.000-08:00

So get this. Back in about 1993 I was working for a little publication run by a group of four forward-thinking young college kids. I was in college too. We were all 20somethings and ready to conquer the world. (I've been meaning to write this post for a long time and it keeps slipping my mind.)
They had this idea for a great newspaper that would cover the news in ways our local paper wouldn't and couldn't because it was one of those "real" and stuffy newspapers.
So we ran stories on local elected officials who were seen at the strip club placing dollar bills in the G-strings of lap dancers, corruption, and many other juicy stories. We were fearless. That paper also had entertainment, interesting photographs, and it was paid for by advertising. It was delivered free to drop racks throughout the region.
I give you that little bit of background just to set the scene for you.
Newspapers attract the people who need to be on medication. Not just the people who work for newspapers, but people in the community who go off their meds call us. They want to talk about all sorts of weird things, rant and rave, cuss and fight, or just drone on and on for sometimes an hour about everything their cat did that day and how their neighbor keeps peering over the fence, or a particular color keeps streaking across their television screen and they're sure the government is doing it to track their movements.
So back in about 1993, way before the Internet was in every home, before cell phones we use today, and before text messaging was invented, we got a letter.
In this letter, this guy went on and on about a new language that was going to emerge. He spelled all the words in this letter the way he believed this language would take shape.
Here's an example, though I can't remember any of what the letter actually said verbatim.
U r shur 2 b n 4 a supris. It wil chng th wa we comunicat nd pepl wil stop riting n propr nglsh.
We all thought he must be a little wacky. Why would we all shortcut our words and make them garbled like that? Just to save time, he said. He claimed everyone was getting so busy and trying to do so many things at once that the common language was just going to be too much. Too many letters for people to use in each word, they'd shorten everything so they could get the message out faster. Gone would be the grammar rules.
I wish I had a copy of that letter. What a visionary. And we thought he was crazy.

Weekend wanderings and wonderings

2011-02-15T20:26:00.000-08:00

Saturday I took Sean to Chuck's and we all had breakfast together before I had to hit the road to meet someone for coffee and conversation about school-related stuff.

This man is truly a wonder. He had cinnamon rolls ready, the table set and french toast ready to go when we arrived. It was delicious. He kept the kids at his place for a while and then we were going to meet for a local library grand opening after my meeting. We met up at the library and it was crazy. Packed.
We all left there with the plan to meet back up for dinner, but Sean wasn't feeling well so we skipped dinner.

I had marked the meeting for the wrong day on my calendar, so I sat alone in the cafe that morning for a while and sipped on a green tea. It was a new experience and I soaked it in. I liked the atmosphere there and enjoyed watching some of the people sit, and come and go. I've always had a soft spot for cafes because I used to work at one back in the late 80s and early 90s. It was definitely one of my best jobs ever. The people were great, the boss was phenomenal and the food was oh, so good.

Since I wasn't familiar with the area, I got back in my car and drove around to see what there was to see.
As I drove I listened to some programs on public radio. I don't remember the name of it, but one show was about new evidence that people in a coma are really in there.

They did some brain imaging and compared the brain activity to that of a healthy participant. They told the person in a coma to imagine they are playing tennis, to rest, play tennis again, rest, play tennis again.
Their brains lit up just like the healthy people.

The guy providing the information said they can prove they have brain activity, but cannot prove that these people have no activity. He gave an example of someone who is deaf, and what if they are brought into the hospital and we don't know they're deaf and they're in a coma. The same scenario could lead the doctors to believe that deaf person had no brain activity, but it's not that, it's that they can't hear what the doctor is saying to them.

It got me thinking about the implications of this.
What will this information do to all of those people who have made the decision to end a life because they were told the person has no brain activity? And what now? What do we do with this information?

The next radio show was "This American Life" and it focused on the possibility that the recipe for Coca -Cola has been found. What was most interesting to me is that Coke still has cocaine in it, it's just that the coca leaves are de-cocainized in some plant in the U.S. How bizarre to think that a controlled substance is allowed to enter the country in mass quantities for the recipe of a soft drink.