Saying Good Bye to 2008!

Today we attended our fifth and final funeral for 2008. Wally lost three family members this year and we also lost two friends. Today's funeral was very sweet. The Bishop summed it up in his concluding talk when he said something about "attending a funeral and walking away from it wanting to be a better person." And it was so true of this one.

Eunice was a special lady and to hear her family talk about the wonderful person she was and to have known her smile and her humor, it really does make you want to be more like her; more optimistic, more joyful, more compassionate, and more thankful.

I think we are truly blessed in our lives by the many people who cross our paths through out the years. People that leave an impression on our very souls.

As we sat in the chapel today I was reminded that we do not always get a chance to say good bye to these people. Sometimes the situation is simply unavoidable. Knowing this we need to always make the most of the moments we have together.

At the end of another year, (where does the time go?), I want to wish all of you the very best for the new year ahead of us.

In 2009

May your hearts be happy and your burdens light.

May you always know that you are never alone.

May you find joy each day.

May you understand that it's about people not things.

May you really look and see the sun rise,

the flowers bloom,

the snow fall, the rain drop,

and the smiles that are all around you.

Christmas Eve

Twas the night before Christmas and here I am on the computer. I was getting sleepy watching a rerun of Bones and then I remembered I needed to get the stockings stuffers ready. That's how I end up on the computer.

I checked on my husband's gift that I ordered on December 15th. It was shipped Fed Ex (ground I think) from NY. It's been in Portland, Oregon since December 20th. Oh well, I'm printing him a photo of his gift and the gift will be here anyday now. Of course that's what we say everyday about the garbage trucks also. And we haven't seen them yet either.

The snow has been challenging. The way it just lingers and doesn't go away. It's so pretty when I wake in the mornings and look out the window and see the white blanket of snow. We'll enjoy our white Christmas and it'll be one we remember for a long time.

Merry Christmas to all!

Oh Christmas Tree!

We got our tree on a Saturday morning. By Saturday evening it was in the living room, in front of the window. I managed to get the lights on it that night. It took me three more days to get the rest of the decorations on it.

 

During those few days where it only had lights on it, I thought it was just beautiful. There is something so magical about the lights at Christmas time.

 

I think a lot of the emotions and the "spirit" of Christmas have to do with how we celebrated Christmas as children and how we celebrated Christmas with our own children when they were small.

 

Days later as I was putting the ornaments on the tree, I had a lot of memories of Christmases past. In the early 1980's I had two small children and worked at Ernst in the Brickyard Plaza in Salt Lake City. I worked for awhile in the garden shop and it's there that we sold all the Christmas decorations. I bought a lot of discounted decorations that year and when I get them out each year, I remember that time in my life.

 

As I hang the stockings I remember as a child in Rigby and later in Boise hanging our real stockings above the fireplace. Thank goodness for long knee high socks in those days. We used to get an orange and candy in our stockings, I don't remember what else. But I remember the year Santa put an orange in my children's Christmas stockings and they thought that was so odd.

Even though I don't have small children at home and I don't get a lot of company at my house, I still enjoy putting up my Christmas decorations. I love to sit in the evenings and look at the tree (and try not to think about the presents that still need to be wrapped).

 

Christmas is indeed a magical time of the year.

Breakfast

As I was laying in bed last night thinking in those last few moments of the day, I thought of all I had done that day. This might be strange to some, but it's perfectly normal to me, to do a mental list of everything I ate that day. I realized I had eaten breakfast for all three meals.

I ate a late breakfast of scrambled eggs, cheese and salsa in a flour tortilla. Work was super busy so by mid afternoon I just needed to quickly grab some food. I had a bowl of cereal.

At the end of they day I had no plans what to make for dinner. After coming home from working out at 6 pm, I had figured out that I could make pancakes with bacon and eggs. We don't normally have bacon but I had half a package left from a salad I made for Thanksgiving dinner.

I thoroughly enjoyed dinner and it was an easy clean up.

Two Days After Thanksgiving

Today I:

• Went on a two mile walk
• Ate breakfast at McDs with Wally (they have the best ever chocolate milk)
• Watched the end of "Becoming Jane Austen"
• Helped hang Christmas lights on the front of the house
• Went grocery shopping
• Read a lot of blogs, it was fun, you start with just one and then you keep linking through their friends and find people you know and just keep reading, Natalie calls it "blog stalking"
• Did not eat cheesecake
• Ate a lot of fruit (apple, orange and now a pomegranate)
• Did laundry
• Made beef stew for dinner (no turkey tonight, but the leftover fresh cut up veggies came in handy)
• Tonight we plan on watching "Get Smart"

The Band Aid Box Story

When I was a young girl living in Boise, Idaho in the late 1960's, my family lived in the country. We had a two story five bedroom house and we had a pasture with a small barn. Sometimes we had animals in the pasture, my sister had a horse and later my other sister had a calf, but that's another story.

The cool thing about the pasture was the ditch along the back that bordered the fence and a little gate back in the corner that connected us to our neighbors. Without the gate we would have to go to the end of our street, out to the main road and down a few houses.

We would have to walk past the scary house on the corner with the German shepherds that followed you from their side of the fence barking and growling at you all the way.

I was the youngest of five and my friend that lived through the gate was one year older than me and she was the oldest of five children. We spent many hours playing together with her younger brothers and her sister.

I'm guessing the band aid box came into use in the summertime. I don't know if we thought it up or our Moms did. For those of you much younger than me, you may not know that band aids actually used to come in a metal box with a hinged lid. When it was emptied of band aids it was useful for many things.

Well my friend and I took small pieces of paper and wrote various things to do on them. These pieces of paper were then folded up and placed in the band aid box. Whenever we couldn't decide what to do or we were bored (I would love to know what that feels like now), we would pull out a piece of paper and do whatever it said.

Some of the things on the papers were: ride bikes, play barbies, swim in the ditch, play board games, play outside, stuff like that. I don't know how often we used the box, but to this day I remember having it.

The reason I thought of this lately is that many times when I'm driving in the car, taking a shower, doing dishes, my mind wanders to all the things that I need to get done at home. But when I'm home and I have some time (not cause I'm bored) I never seem to have the motivation to accomplish those tasks.

So here is what I'm going to do. I'm going to get a small tin (since band aid boxes don't exist anymore) and I'm going to list small chores that can be done in 30 minutes or less in my box. I'm going to turn my laziness into achievements, one small scrap of paper at a time.

Here's just a start of what my papers will say: clean shelves in bedroom closet, clean printer desk drawers, clean kitchen pantry shelves, clean and organize hall closet - one shelf at a time, clean under the bathroom sink (where does all that hair product, shower gel and lotion come from anyway?). I might find something fun in the closet to sell on eBay, who knows.

And then when that list is finished there's the laundry room with full cupboards and shelves of who knows what, not to mention the sewing room.

Three Cups of Tea - Book Review

Three Cups of Tea, One Man's Mission to Promote Peace. . . One School at a Time.

I just finished reading this book written by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. It was one of the most fascinating non fiction books I have ever read. I didn't want to put it down and I did not want it to end.

The book was written in 2006 and tells the story of Greg Mortenson who as a mountaineer in 1993 found himself in a small village in the Karakoram mountains in Pakistan after a failed attempt to climb K2.

He tells of his experience over the next 10 years of frequent travels back to Pakistan to build schools. His knowledge of the area and his acceptance by the many people in these small villages is heartwarming. I never would have thought that one person could make such a huge impact in the life of others.

He worked endlessly (still does) and did all he could to raise money for the schools. While living in California he meets a woman who he marries after just knowing her for three weeks. What an amazing person she must be to love a man so unconditionally that she is willing to share him with these people in a foreign country who have taken him in as if one of their own.

Currently Greg Mortenson is the Executive Director of the Central Asia Institute, a non-profit organization with the mission to promote and support community-based education, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

https://www.ikat.org/

I would strongly recommend reading this well written, entertaining and educational book. In addition to the wonderful story of Greg Mortenson, it provides great historical, political and geographical information.

"Here (in Pakistan and Afghanistan), we drink three cups of tea to do business; the first you are a stranger, the second you become a friend, and the third, you join our family, and for our family we are prepared to do anything--even die."

--Haji Ali, Korphe Village Chief, Karakoram Mountains, Pakistan

If you live in my area, I would be happy to loan you my book.

November is Here!

2009, does that thought scare you? Well it's just right around the corner. As I put away my Halloween decorations yesterday, I put out a few things for Thanksgiving. I also cleaned house and moved the furniture around so we could get to the fireplace which we enjoy this time of year. It's actually a wood burning store so you need space to open the door out and I keep furniture in front of it most of the time.

When I went grocery shopping on Saturday the Halloween candy had quickly been replaced with yes, Christmas candy. I stayed 6 feet away from it and kept on walking. Funny how it's actually the same candy just in new Christmas colored wrappings.

As we go into the month of November it gives us time to reflect on the many things we are thankful for. I don't ignore the fact that there are a lot of bad things happening in the world today. It's so hard to believe that in 2008 there are still people in parts of the world without adequate drinking water, very little food and many without a roof over their heads.

We live in a country of excess and we shouldn't take that for granted nor abuse it. Just look at the volume of stores in your very own neighborhood. Anything you want right at your fingertips if you have the money.

I like to get down to the basics and be grateful for the ordinary things in my life. My family - every single one of them, my friends, my health, our home, the beauty in nature which surrounds us, my job, our dog, my religious beliefs (and the freedom to have them) and my memories. You can take away my car, my nice couch and even my indoor plumbing as long as I can keep the things listed above.

For all the luxuries and other things I live with that I think of as "necessities", those things I am also grateful for and I try not to take them for granted.
To name a few: chocolate, ice cream, movies, warm socks, a good book, a hot shower, electricity, my computer, the ocean, french fries, photographs, old books, toilet paper, fabric, shopping, even the public library.

Enjoy this season of Thanksgiving and take time to think about the many, many things in your life you have to be grateful for. Sure we may still be overweight, have to wear reading glasses, creak in the joints, never catch up on the laundry, have to cook yet another meal, run another million errands, have health problems or family challenges, but this is our life - enjoy it!

Trip to Washington D.C.

I have to say I enjoy traveling for work. Part of the reason is that I don't have to do it too often. So when the opportunity arises I am eager for it. On Sunday, October 26th I boarded a plane to Washington D.C. to attend a two day conference for work.
The conference was held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Pentagon City. With the three hour time difference it was after 5:00 p.m. by the time we arrived at the hotel. I was traveling with one of my coworkers as well as the many conference attendees who were from my larger organization.

That evening a group of about 14 of us walked from the hotel through the Fashion Center Mall which is attached to the hotel, then outside to an Italian restaurant.

Monday I woke at 6 am and went to the fitness center. I worked out on an elliptical but the real reason I was at the fitness center was the sauna and steam room. I haven't been in either for many years and I love them both.

We had breakfast at the conference as well as lunch, both catered by the hotel. Also snacks in the afternoon. The conference was very good. It was about Global Trade Control Regulations and lots of discussion on International Business. We had speakers from a few government agencies as well as from the UK and Canada Embassies. There is a lot to learn so I was happy to be attending.

Monday night I had made reservations and arranged for our staff to have a team dinner at Morton's Steak House. Some of us walked the mile to the restaurant and a few took a taxi. We had a lot of fun. We have a new work group which combines four different groups. This gave us a chance to all meet. I did meet my new manager on Monday. She has been my manager for 3 weeks, but is located in California.

Tuesday morning, same routine at the fitness center and the last day of the conference. Tuesday after the conference Glenda and I joined a tour bus that did D.C. at night. It was a lot of fun. We stopped at many of the monuments. It was dark and a little bit cold but very enjoyable. We saw the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Viet Nam Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, FDR Memorial and Iwo Jima and the Washington Monument from the distance.

On Wednesday we had breakfast at the hotel, checked out, leaving our luggage and took the subway from Arlington across the river to D.C. I'll see if I can remember all we did that day before catching our flight at 5:30 p.m. to go home.

We got off the subway and did some walking till we found the International Spy Museum. It was so cool. This is not part of the Smithsonian museums so it was the only one we paid admission too. http://www.spymuseum.org/ They have a gift shop and the museum is quite big. It's laid out really good with so much to see. I would have to say the highlight for me was a chance to crawl through duct work and look down at the people visiting the museum. Just like they do in the movies.

We went to an Art Museum, then walked over near the White House. Then we visited the National Archives, the Natural History Museum, ate lunch at the Indian Museum, and visited the Smithsonian Castle which was the original building and where the body of James Smithson lays in a crypt.

From there we found the subway, got back to the hotel, caught a taxi and made it to the airport in time. It was a long flight home, but I was sitting with a nice group, good company. We had three babies in our area and they were very good.

Here is a link to my pictures which I have posted on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1068406&l=1d9d7&id=747090221

Fall is Here

The leaves are turning shades of gold, orange and red. We have some already dropping to the ground in the backyard. The wind and rain come and go, but it's a pleasant wind and rain, not yet cold and heavy.

Yesterday I bought a pumpkin and put it on my front door step. This afternoon, I got out some of my Halloween decorations. It's different when you don't have small children at home. But I enjoy the decorations anyway and like the feel of fall.

And of course the Halloween candy has been in the store for weeks now. Miniature versions of all your favorite candies. I enjoy candy corn and even the marshmellow peeps, but I know I can't call them peeps, they are now pumpkins or ghosts, but sugary delicious still the same.

I can honestly say that today I have no Halloween candy in the house. However, I have an empty candy dish set out now just waiting to be filled.

I like Halloween being the end of the month, that way we can enjoy the visuals of it and the treats for the whole month.

Yes, fall is in the air. I feel it, I smell it, I see it, and I love it!

This is a photo of my brother's puppy from 2006.

Pictures from Vacation and Graduation

Road Trip

We left Thursday morning, Sept 11th. Keep in mind that Wally can't drive cause of his eyes. I did all the driving. We took Wally's small S10 truck loaded up with furniture for his daughter. We stopped to visit the Shasta Lake Dam, the second largest in the country. We had to ask what the first was and was embarrassed to learn it was the Grand Coulee here in Washington. We got to Bart and Autumn's about 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Harper is just wonderful, adorable, smiley, just fun. Bart brought pizza home and we spent the evening visiting. They live in a small town outside Medford. They are one house away from the city park. They can walk to the grocery store. They really like it there. Friday morning we went into Ashland and had breakfast at harper's, which is Autumn's Mom's new restaurant that opened on Wednesday. She had the Avenues Bakery in Salt Lake, which they closed in August. Ashland is a great little town.

We stopped at The Olive Pit in Corning to do some shopping. Then we drove in to San Francisco and arrived at our hotel about 6:30 p.m. on Friday night. We were 30 miles away from the city and it took 1 1/2 hours to get into it. Wally's daughter picked us up at the hotel and out for Italian food for dinner. Saturday morning Wally and I walked down Union Street to a café for breakfast. Then we went to Carla's place in the Mission District. We lucked out and a got a parking spot right out front. We unloaded furniture and then spent hours putting it together. I walked over to the French bakery on the corner for treats. Then we walked around the Mission district, had lunch and looked at shops. We actually stood outside on the sidewalk for 15 minutes to get into an ice cream shop, which was really worth the wait. It was called Bi-Rite Creamery. I had toasted coconut ice cream and salted caramel ice cream with home made caramel sauce. It was delicious.

Later that night we went out for Chinese food at a place called Alice's restaurant. It was very good.Sunday was the same breakfast routine, check out of the hotel and then the afternoon spent in Sausalito, it was my first time on the Golden Gate Bridge. We basically spent 48 hours in San Francisco. Sunday night we drove about 3 hours north and spent the night in Corning. Monday we visited my friend Gail who just moved to Eugene in August. We've known each other since we were 8 years old. I hadn't seen her for a couple of year. As always it was great to see her and catch up on things.

From Eugene we drove to Corvallis then headed west to the Oregon Coast and 101. We arrived about 1 1/2 hours before sunset, which I anticipated watching on the beach. However when we arrived in Newport it was all fogged in. We found a nice hotel and a restaurant on the beach where we had dinner. I had crab cakes and brought a slice of cheesecake back to the hotel for later.

We woke in the morning to fog and headed north on 101. We did stop at Cannon Beach to go see the ocean.

We visited the Tillamook Cheese factory, had lunch (grilled ham and cheese on sourdough) and ice cream (rocky road on a sugar cone). We also visited a quilt/textile/museum/shop, which was fun. We made a brief stop in Astoria, the crossed the Columbia River to head home. We stopped at Black Angus for my free birthday dinner, which expired the next day. We were home by 7:30.

I had Wednesday to catch up at home and Natalie arrived Thursday morning. We had Wayne's portfolio review on Thursday, then we walked around Pike Place. Friday was graduation in the afternoon at Benaroya Hall. He now has his Associates Degree in Graphic Design now. Saturday, Wally, Natalie and I went to the Puyallup fair where we got very rained on but enjoyed the food. We visited Ian in his booth and thanked him for our free parking and admission. I hadn't seen him for over a year. He is doing good.

Natalie flew home Sunday morning. And Monday it was back to getting up at 6:00 a.m., working, cooking and cleaning. Back to routine. Vacation is great but routine can also be good.

Nature

I have the opportunity to work from home most days. I sit at my desk in the spare bedroom, which has been turned into my homeoffice/craft/sewing room. I have a window that looks into the front yard. We bought a wooden bird feeder in Oregon on our road trip which I wanted to use for the squirrels. We haven't hung it up yet so I sat it in my flower bed.

Here's a couple of pictures. It was fun watching the squirrels.

Road Trip

Tomorrow Wally and I begin our road trip to San Francisco. I am really looking forward to it. We will visit Bart and Autumn in Oregon. Meet Harper who is now three months old. Spend a couple of nights in San Francisco and hang out with Carla. On the way home we visit my friend Gail who just moved to Eugene, Oregon from Virginia. Great timing, except her furniture hasn't arrived yet!

We may drive a little along the coast, depending on how we're feeling by then. The weather should be great and I'm looking forward to a great trip.

I'll share pictures later. I bought my new digital camera about three weeks ago so I could learn how to use it, but let's just say I'll be bringing the instruction manual along, just in case.

Birthday

In celebration of my birthday today I joined an elite group. I've nicknamed this group the James Street Hill Walkers. James Hill is a mile long steep hill that I drive on all the time. I've walked up and down it once or twice a few years ago (when I was younger). My last attempt in January 2007, I didn't make it all the way up the hill.

Today I successfully made it up the hill and back down. I passed a few other hill walkers. I'm not sure if most people start at the top or the bottom. I choose to start at the bottom to get the worst part over with first. It takes me about 10-15 minutes longer to get up the hill then it does to get down the hill. Going up I have to stop and rest, catch my breath and stretch out my calves. Sweet success today!

Birthdays!

Happy Birthday!

To
My niece Katie Aug. 30th
My cousin Russell Aug. 30th
My niece Lillie Sept. 2nd

Remembering Mom, "Lc", who would have celebrated her 86th Birthday on August 31st.

Friday, the Beginning of a Four Day Weekend

Today I was up at 7:00 a.m. for a meeting at 7:30. I was able to make the call from home. After that I was at Curves by 9:00 a.m.. Then on my way to Target I decided to go to Great Clips for a haircut (actually to fix what I tried to trim myself). I did some quick shopping at Target then when I got home I decided I wanted to mow the lawn. They say we're supposed to get rain this weekend.

I mowed our front lawn and the front lawn of the house across the street which is vacant and for sale since our good neighbor Mike passed away in June. Then I tackled our backyard which hadn't been mowed in a couple of weeks.

After I "did my hair" and showered, Wally and I ran an errand to the credit union. We decided to go see The Dark Knight but since we had time to kill before the movie started we went across the street to AAA. There we picked up some maps for our upcoming trip to San Francisco.

The movie was good and afterwards we went out for Teriyaki. We were home by 7:30 which made for a nice day. Wally also waxed my car this morning, which was very nice.

I bought a new digital camera this week. The Olympus Stylus 1010. I'm very excited to have a new camera. It's my second digital camera. (That's not counting the digital I bought for 35.00 at an on-line auction that turned out to be really old and clunky.) If anyone collects old digital cameras, just let me know and I'll send it your way. It actually records pictures on a 3.5 disk or a regular card. I never paid the money to buy a card for it. I guess that's one good thing I did.

Tomorrow it's oil change for the car, laundry, vacuuming, clean the bathroom and grocery shopping. Just a typical Saturday. I'll also find time to run to the library to pick up The Kite Runner which they have on hold for me.

Things I Never Mentioned

Have you ever had something embarrassing, sad or just plain stupid happen to you and you don't tell a single person about it? I have two confessions to make right here and now. I'm not sure why I didn't casually mention them as an occurrence before. Maybe it was because when they happened my first emotion was anger, then it turned into "did I really just do that?". It's in the category of when something happens to you or you do something and you wish you could reverse time and prevent it from ever happening.

Both of my incidents involve glass, I guess that says something about me. The first one happened in June 2007 as I was getting ready to go on our family vacation. Our annual vacation takes some preplanning. We like to haul most of our groceries from home. It was a lovely June evening and I was shopping at WinCo. I remember taking my grocery cart out to the car. I started loading the bags in the trunk. I had bought two cases of Thomas Kemper soda pop. I think they were about 6.00 or 7.00 a box. There are the ones in the glass bottles and you get assorted flavors. These cases weren't as big as the ones at Costco.

Well I picked up one case from the cart and somehow it swung out of my hand and came crashing down between my car and the one next to it. I heard the tinkling glass and when I picked up the case, which was fully intact on the outside, soda pop came oozing out the corner.

There I stood in the parking lot with a cardboard box of broken glass and soda dripping on the pavement. I didn't quite know what to do. I wasn't going to go back in and pay for another case, I figured the other one I had would have to do.

So I did what I thought was the best solution and to save face. I took the sticky, glass tinkling, dripping box and put it in the bottom of a shopping cart in the cart station in the parking lot. Bless the store person who found it and cleaned up after me!

The other glass breaking incident I had was earlier this year. I was doing food at a wedding reception at a church I had never been to before. The nice man met me in the parking lot to let me into the building. I parked out back so I could unload the truck into the kitchen. I arrived about 30 minutes before my helpers were to arrive.

At the church you always have to prop the back door open with a chair and take the wheelie cart from the kitchen to the parking lot, load it up and go back into the kitchen. Well this kitchen cart had stacks of plastic trays hanging from the cart. I figured I could use them like shelves.

I had made a trip or two already and was loading up bags and boxes. I had a lovely glass salad bowl which I sat on a tray and then I promptly loaded another tray, slid it in, and you guessed it, knocked the glass bowl off the tray out the other end smashing it down onto the pavement.

That's when you just kind of take a moment, stand there and realize what had just happened and that it totally could have been prevented. And how much I was going to miss that glass salad bowl. Not just for the reception but for my holiday meals at home. Luckily it wasn't an expensive glass bowl, but it just should never have happened.

Then I had to go inside the church, find the maintenance closet, take a broom, dust pan and small garbage can outside and clean up my mess. Luckily it was in the back parking lot and it was all cleaned up before anyone else arrived. Not the most pleasant way to start an afternoon of making petite sandwiches and fruit platters.

I'm fine now. I've moved on. I haven't replaced the glass salad bowl yet and every time I drink soda pop from a glass bottle, I'll remember that June day in the grocery store parking lot.

Remembering Dad

Today would have been my Father's 94th Birthday. I woke up this morning thinking about him. He was born in 1914 and passed away 10 years ago, right before Father's Day, and two months before his 84th birthday.

Dad was 43 years old when I was born and I was only 40 years old when he passed away. Just think, he had lived half his life before I was even born.

He had 20 wonderful years of retirement with Mom. They traveled in their motor home, served two church missions, and enjoyed many summers at the cabin where they welcomed grandkids, friends and even a few strangers.

Dad loved to sing with the Barbershop Chorus, cooked great sourdough bread and of course loved cooking in his dutch ovens. He was a constant inventor. Always figuring out how to make some clever thing.

He taught me that I could do anything. Just two months before he died I was able to tell him I was going back to college to finish my degree and he was delighted.

Growing up in Boise Dad used to invite me to the auction with him on Saturdays. Of course he had gone down much earlier in the morning to see what he wanted to buy and estimated what time the bidding would be in that area. Then I would go back with him and get to watch the bidding. I'm not sure he needed all that stuff but he had a great time.

Dad was the oldest in his family and in retirement enjoyed many visits and trips with his brothers and sisters and their spouses. He loved being around people.

He was an example to me of how a life should be led. I'm proud to be his daughter. Happy Birthday Dad, I love you!

Saturday Vacation Day

We had a fun Saturday. It was like taking a day off from all the ordinary things you have to do on Saturday. In the early morning I got my grocery shopping done and we took some things to the hazardous waste recycle and also dropped some things off at the Thrift Store. In the afternoon we drove to Northgate Mall to pick up our granddaughter. We brought her back to our house where she played with the dog, teased Grandpa, ate a little, watched a little TV and just had some fun.

Then we went to a small local festival where we had snow cones, walked around and she played in the bouncy obstacle course. We then tried out a new place for dinner called Shake N Go where we had delicious hamburgers, fries and shakes.

Then we met her parents in Seattle to drop her off, did the drive-thru at Krispy Kreme and came home. It was a nice day.

Friday

It was cloudy and overcast today. I went into the office about 7:15 and worked till about noon. On the way home I stopped for some lunch at Taco Bell and ran some errands around Southcenter. When I got home Wally was working on the interior window frame. The drapes are down and tomorrow we have some touch up painting to do. Then I can take some pictures and put the drapes back up. We went to Home Depot and priced patio doors and looked at vertical blinds.

Tonight we did a quick trip to Walmart after dinner. That's pretty much been my day. I'm cleaning one kitchen drawer out this evening. Looking forward to the weekend.

What's for Dinner Saturday

This will end my one week of what's for dinner at our house. Saturday night we had build your own pork tacos. I marinated pork in Lawry's Mexican Chile and Lime marinade, then cut it up in little pieces and cooked it in a skillet. I heated flour tortilla's on the comal. We had home made salsa, avocado, cilantro, shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, and black beans. I realize now I forgot the tomatoes. It was all delicious.

Dragon Boat Races

Today I experienced Dragon Boat racing for the first time. I first heard about it 4 or 5 years ago when they started a group in Kent. I've wanted to go see what they were about for the last two years. Last year when I arrived at Lake Meridian I was on the wrong day!

Today I went to Lake Meridian about 12:30 and stayed for two hours. It was blissful sitting at the edge of the lake. It was so beautiful. There was shade when you needed it and lots of sun.

The races had been going on all day long. When I arrived they were in the semi-finals. They race four boats at a time. Once they get in position on the lake the race lasts less than three minutes. It looks like a lot of fun.

I have a friend who belongs to the Kent Women's group called Ladies of the Lake. In the summer they practice three days a week on the lake. They can sign up to participate in the races or just enjoy the practices.

Groups came from all over the place to participate. Here is some information on Dragon Boat racing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dragon_boat&oldid=198269374

What's for Dinner Friday

Tonight we had ham slices with roasted red potatoes, green beans, french bread and the leftover frozen vegetables from I think two nights ago.

The recipe for the roasted red potatoes is on the Lipton Onion Soup Mix box. They are delicious. All you do is wash the potatoes (I use red potatoes with skins on) and cut into chunks, toss with olive oil and the dry soup mix and then spread in one layer on a greased baking sheet (I use olive oil spray for that). They bake at 425 for about 25 minutes. They get crisp on the outside and are so tasty.

And after dinner I sat quietly at the table and read the entire People magazine which I picked up at the store this afternoon.

What's for Dinner Thursday

A night off from cooking. I was able to attend a quilting class tonight. We picked up Subway 5.00 sandwiches earlier in the day. That way I had something to eat on my way to class and Wally had a sandwich to eat whenever he was ready. I left Wayne money and he picked himself up something to eat later.

What's for Dinner Wednesday

It was one of those long busy days full of activity. Worked all day from home. One trip to the doctor's office for routine blood work, two trips to the lawnmower shop, to Curves for exercise, came home, put chicken in the oven and went out and mowed the front lawn.

For a simple but good dinner, just look in your freezer. I took a bunch of Costco frozen chicken strips from the freezer and put them in a 9 x 13 pan. Looked in the pantry for sauces and decided on sweet and sour sauce. Poured it over the chicken and added a little less than half a bottle of water, covered it with aluminum foil and let it cook. After about 25 minutes I removed the cover and added pineapple chunks and continued cooking until the chicken was cooked through.

Instead of white rice which would have been great, the guys ate leftover Spanish rice without complaining. I had a bag of frozen broccoli, cauliflower and carrots in the freezer which I cooked.

I also had a cantaloupe which I bought on Saturday and it was perfect today. I cut that up and I snacked on that with dinner also. It was a quick simple dinner and I didn't have to spend much time in the kitchen.

(If anyone knows where the spell check is in the blog, please let me know!)

House Project

I said, "you should move that window before it ruins the lawn." Too late!

Needs a second coat of the ivory paint and the gutters painted, but we're almost there.

What's for Dinner Tuesday

I had to go into the office today, so I had a turkey breast all ready in the crock pot and Wayne just had to take it out of the fridge and turn it on. I had a late afternoon invitation to join some friends I haven't seen in awhile. We met at a nice little Italian restaurant at 4:00 pm. We ordered chopped salads and visited for a couple of hours. It was a very nice break from the routine.

I got home about 6:30 and made instant mashed potatoes with gravy, opened a can of green beans and fed the guys.

What's for Dinner

I'm going to try and record one week of dinner's at our house just for fun.

Sunday, was flank steak with flour tortilla's and spanish rice.
Monday, we had angel hair pasta with ground beef in marinara, green salad, canned corn and the greatest bread. The bread is from Fred Meyer's and it's a long slender loaf of french bread which you bake at home and eat hot, dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Magazine Musings Add-On

Okay, I have to admit since I posted about the magazines a couple more have shown up in my mailbox!

9. Today's Creative Home Arts
10. Arthritis Today (yes, placing copies of magazines in Doctor's office will get people to buy suscriptions)

I'm not including my mailing of shopping catalogs, that will be another writing. Besides they are free until you start shopping.

Musings on Magazines

As I was driving in the car this afternoon deep in thought, I wondered if people knew this about me - I am a magazine freak. I have been for years. There is so much pleasure in sitting down at the kitchen table after the dinner dishes have been cleared and going through a magazine one page at a time.

I try to limit the number of subscriptions I have, but when I tallied them up I was surprised. Granted these days some magazines only come every two months.
Here is the list I came up with for my current subscriptions:
1. Reader's Digest (now in larger print for the husband)
2. Prevention
3. Ensign
4. Money (gift subscription Christmas 07)
5. Everyday Food by Martha Stewart (gift subscription Christmas 07)
6. Weight Watchers
7. Fon's and Porter's Quilting Mag
8. Better Homes and Gardens

I like to rotate my subscriptions, for example I probably won't renew Better Homes and Gardens and Weight Watchers when the time comes. In the past I subscribed to Sunset, and acquired a nice collection of gardening tips and recipes. I will subscribe to Reader's Digest my whole life, it's just that kind of magazine.

I guess you can tell a lot about a person by the magazines they read, kind of like the company they keep.

A real treat to me is when I'm traveling and I buy an Oprah or In Style magazine at the airport. Sometimes I break down at the grocery store and in addition to my bi-weekly People mag, I'll toss in a Shape magazine, or Women's Health or Martha Stewart. Yes, we are drawn to what is on the cover, aren't we?

I don't have the attention span to read books as often as I would like, I guess that's why I'm drawn to magazines. If I can read and learn something new in only 10 minutes I think that's great. Today while waiting in the Doctor's office I read about cooking homemade pizza on the grill. I think that just might be my next new subscription - Eating Well Magazine.

Happy reading!

Check out my cabin vacation pictures!

House Project Update

Before we left for vacation another section of siding and a new window were completed. (Still needs the second coat of paint - maybe this weekend).

More Baby News

Vanessa Grace Nielson was welcomed into the world on Saturday, June 28th. She weighed over 8 lbs and has lots of hair. She's still in the hospital and we pray she is improving each day. Congratulations to her parents and grandparents!

Summer Vacation

Tomorrow morning we leave for our annual trip to the cabin in Eastern Idaho. It's a vacation I look forward to every year. It's a lot of work shopping and packing to prepare for it, but the payoff comes Sunday night. After 1 1/2 days of travel we arrive at the cabin on Sunday afternoon. Usually right behind the rainstorm of the day.

The week is ours to enjoy. We eat, we sleep, we read, we sew and we eat some more. And then we just sit outside and enjoy nature, looking at the lake and the mountains. The scenery is majestic and the air clear. The sounds are different than here at home.

Whenever I travel away from home I think of all the things I'm going to accomplish when I return home. I'm not sure why that is. Maybe just being away from my regular routine gives me time to think and plan.

When I return I'll post some photos and tell about our trip.

Baby Update

Here's a picture of Harper snuggled in her own bed at home.

Pictures of Harper

Harper is still in the hospital but is doing well. Here are a few more pictures. Two days old.

June Brings.......

It's June 8th and so far I have received four high school graduation announcements, three wedding announcements, one 90th Birthday celebration announcement, attended one funeral and now welcome my great niece, Harper Rae Madson into the world.

She was born in the wee hours of Sunday morning, June 8, 2008

Yes, the scale is right, 9 lbs. 5 oz.

Congratulations to her Mom and Dad and all the other family members that have anxiously been awaiting her arrival.

House Project

Life has been busy and I haven't had time to get pictures posted until now. Wally has been working daily putting up the new siding, (me) painting and installing the new window. We still have to do a second coat of paint. In the pictures you'll see the blue masking tape which I haven't removed yet. We still have the section on the other side of the door to do with the new siding, windows and paint.

Before Picture

In WorkNew Paint, Old Window , Flowers in Bloom
New Window, Flowers in Bloom

Remembering Mike

Today our neighbor Mike passed away. He was one month away from his 72nd birthday. He passed away from cancer which had not been diagnosed until a few weeks ago. By that time it had spread too much. He was in the hospital and then moved to a nursing home just this week.

We've lived across the street from Mike for 20 years. His wife died the first few years we were here and we didn't know her very well. After Mike retired he became a regular "garage buddy". My husband has a workshop in the garage and when he has the garage door up and is working on a project, neighbors like to come by and chat. Mike was a regular.

When I would pull into the driveway and walk through the garage into the house, Mike would like to say, "the fun is over". We are sad that he is gone. When someone passes unexpectedly, you stop and think when was the last time you saw them, what was the last conversation you had. Too often we do not get the chance to say good bye.

Mike left home to go to the doctor's office a few weeks ago and never returned to his home. His sons are now here trying to sort through his home and have the task of selling the cars, the motor home and the house.

I look around my home and worry about all the "stuff" I may leave behind for someone else to clean up and throw away. But I have decided that for now it is my "stuff" and I like having it around me. The reason why may not be apparent to my daughter 30 or 40 years from now, but that is okay. Today it means something to me.

Remember each day to be kind, be loving, and remember we do not know what others may be going through. Cherish one another, live with no regrets.

I Got Tagged!

Tagged by my niece Goldie. This is a tricky tag since I am to describe myself by using the letters of my middle name. Well since I don't have a middle name, I guess that would make me "indescribable"! I'll use my substitute middle name that appeared for many years on forms.

N - Nice, neat, nutty
M - Multifaceted, have many interests
I - Inquisitive,curious. Like to know what's going on all the time and how things work.

The House Project

We have lived in our house for 20 years this fall. It was built in 1977. We have the original aluminum windows and siding. The siding has been painted once. Well this is the year for new siding and windows and I am thrilled. My husband is a retired carpenter, so things at our house are done in his time, which means slowly. I've learned not to ask too many questions and that way I am pleasantly surprised when the work progresses and is eventually finished.

I have been told that this weekend I can do some painting on the siding if I want to. The house is currently a very pale yellow with blue trim. We are painting it an ivory/cream color with green trim. I know it's going to be beautiful when it is finished. Tomorrow we order the picture window for the living room.

I'm hoping to get the front yard mowed before any more pieces of discarded aluminum siding start to pile up. Stay tuned for our progress.

Mother's Day

The other morning I did something I seldom do, I burnt the toast. It wasn't too bad so I went ahead and scraped the black off into the garbage can. As I was doing that, I wondered if my Mother, who burnt the toast so often as I was growing up, had any idea that I would think of her when I burnt toast. I used to go to high school in the morning and the guy that sat behind me would say, "your Mom burnt the toast again." He could smell it in my hair.

I view my burnt toast incident as my Mother's way of letting me know she is always with me, even though she's been gone for four years.

The other thing she always did was hand wash my dishes whenever she came to town for a visit. I can't tell you how often I stand at the kitchen sink, washing dishes and remembering my mother.

Here is a picture of a pale yellow lilac bush that was given to me by my stepdaughters when my Mother passed away in 2004. My husband and I have lightly nicknamed the plant Lc, after my Mother. We talk about covering Lc from the frost and how is Lc doing.

This year Lc is full of fragrant blooms in time for Mother's Day. Mom - I love you, thanks for the memories!

An Ideal Day

It involves lunch with a friend, cotton candy and new shoes. On Monday I went to the SuperMall to meet my friend who was visiting from Hawaii. Her son is getting married this summer, so this was their last Mother/Son trip. I had not seen her for 12 years. I saw her briefly on Sunday when she gave me a wonderful tote bag she had sewn and of course some chocolate covered macadamia nuts.

We sat in the food court and visited for an hour. We chatted about all the people she used to know when she lived in Kent, where everyone lived now, who was married, divorced, having kids. It was just like I've been seeing her all the time in the last 12 years. I'm so glad we've stayed in touch through email, Christmas and Birthday cards.

After our lunch visit, I made a quick stop at the Naturalizer Shoe Outlet store where I found me some great new summer sandals. On my way out I bought a pink cotton candy at the carousel and ate it all the way home.

It was a lovely day.

Family Time

Last week was my annual "sister's trip" to Utah. It began on Wednesday when I flew into Salt Lake City. An hour later my two sisters from Idaho were also at the airport. My daughter picked us up and we met our cousin for lunch. Turns out our waiter happened to be my cousin's nephew by marriage. They hadn't seen each other for a number of years.

After lunch my daughter drove us to Springville which is south of Salt Lake City. It was a cold, windy day so we did not get a chance to visit the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point.

We had pizza for dinner that night and my daughter returned home to West Jordan. My sister lives with her son and two daughters. We sleep in the living room and have a great time staying up late, watching movies and reading.

The next two days were spent doing spring cleaning at her house. We visited the local quilt shop for new ideas and inspiration.

Saturday we took my niece's car to Manti to visit my Aunts and Uncles and cousins. My Aunt hosts us at her home and we have lunch. Whoever is available will come and join us. This year there were about 10 or 12 of us.

We also take the time to stop by the cemetary where our parents are buried.

Saturday night my daughter picked us up. We went to Johnny Carino's for dinner then spent the evening playing Guitar Hero and American Idol on Wii.

Sunday morning it was off to the airport to take my sisters. I spent the day with my daughter and her husband. We had a great day. Monday morning I flew home.

Luckily I got a three day work week. I've been catching up on my sleep and laundry.

Next vacation is the cabin trip in June. Looking forward to it.