Giraffiti

Orchid

2012-02-03T21:47:00.000-08:00

All good things must come to an end. After having blooms for about 3 or 4 months my orchid is done flowering. It was wonderful having the blooms during the dark winter months. It will be 3 this Valentine's Day. I'm going to continue to care for it and see what it does next.

I just realized it's Friday, it's watering day for the orchid. I guess I've been distracted lately (read previous post).

Feels Like a Typical Friday Night

2012-02-03T21:42:00.000-08:00

Friday night at our house, I'm on the computer and Wally is watching wrestling. Feels like a typical Friday evening. Who would suspect that a week ago yesterday Wally was in the hospital having surgery. Last Friday night wasn't typical. It was spent in the hospital. As were the days following that.

There was very little television, not much time spent at home. Time off from work and long days spent by his bedside at the hospital. And then they send you home. They send you home with the stitches removed and tape covering the incision and a catheter and pain pills.

He just started eating light liquids on Monday. We have advanced now to scrambled eggs. I have joined him on this interesting diet of lighter eating. It's not bad at all and it's just temporary.

The surgery went well, and he'll have a full recovery. But recovery takes time. While sitting by his bedside at the hospital I kept in touch with the outside world on my cell phone with free Wi-Fi at the hospital. Facebook, Pinterest, email and Words with Friends helped take my mind off what we were experiencing.

It was such a good feeling to come home on Tuesday. Each day is another day closer to recovery. Today we removed the catheter. He has more freedom to walk around the house now.

During the long hours at the hospital, many things were not important that had been important the week before. And that was all right, it still is that way a little bit. The staff was very professional and pleasant and understanding.

Now we are home. We have our daily routine, meals, resting in the living room, resting in bed. Airing out the incision, changing the bandage, checking the temperature, moving the blankets, tracking the medicine. It's different now at our house. He's on the road to recovery, one day at a time.

In the Event of an Emergency

2012-01-21T15:50:00.000-08:00

These pictures pretty much sum up the week we just experienced. What can I say, the snow started on Sunday. On Monday I worked from home and we went to a Doctor's appointment in the afternoon. It snowed some more, I worked from home again on Tuesday and Wednesday. It snowed some more I worked from home on Thursday until we lost power. Then we sat around in front of the fireplace listening to the radio, talking, reading and eating tuna sandwiches.

Then the power came back on about 5:30. And then it snowed again and the freezing rain and wind came. The tree branches cracked and broke under the weight of the ice. On Friday night it rained and today it's in the low 40s. I went out and ran errands. It was nice to be in the car and to drive about. I saw a lot of the damage from the ice and wind.

There are a few things I learned about my emergency preparedness skills, I need to have more batteries on hand. And I need one of those battery operated chargers for my cell phone. We have lots of fire wood, blankets, candles and food. We were quite comfortable. But you really appreciate having electricity. It makes the cold more bearable.

Missing Pictures

2012-01-21T15:38:00.000-08:00

It was shortly after New Years when I went to print my blog that I discovered my pictures had dropped off the blog. I have yet to figure out what has happened. Not sure if it's a formatting issue, Google issue or just me.

I could take the time to reload the pictures, but I'm not in the mood for doing that just yet. I'll keep snooping around blogger and Google to see if I can figure it out. I have all the photos on my computer so I'm not too concerned, but I did enjoy seeing them in my blog post.

I Need This at My House

2011-12-29T16:58:00.000-08:00

This was so cool at the EMP Museum. It was in the Horror Movie Exhibit.

Christmas Weekend

2011-12-29T16:55:00.000-08:00

The weekend started on Friday 23rd as we celebrated Gisele's 11th birthday at Trophy Cupcakes in the Wallingford Center.

Saturday December 24th - waiting for the Sounder Train.

Shawn Kemp raised the 12th man flag and then came around and took photos with people. He sat in front of us for a little while.

I sure hope all these camera men made it home for Christmas. They were fun to watch.

Christmas Day. From left to right: Wayne, Natalie, Scott, Melissa, Tim, Gisele, Wally, Trudy. Missing from photo is Carla who was in San Francisco.

Wayne, Trudy and Natalie

Awesome experience at the EMP Museum in the Horror Movie Exhibit. Go to the museum, buy your tickets online in advance for a discount. There is so much to see and do there. The hands on music area is really fun too.

Here are the scissors from the Edward Scissorhands movie. Probably as close as I'll ever get to Johnny Depp.

Natalie in Avatar boots. The Avatar exhibit was fantastic.

Wayne, Natalie and Scott outside the EMP.

Dinner Table Lamentation

2011-12-27T18:56:00.000-08:00

My thoughts as I set the dinner table this evening - table for 2

Before Christmas - table for 2 - anticipation

Christmas Eve - table for 5 - enjoyment

Christmas Day - table for 8 - bliss, family together, missing one

Today, two days after Christmas - table for 2 - separation, sadness, quiet

Christmas Eve Eve

2011-12-23T21:13:00.000-08:00

I don't think I need to make any apologies for not blogging for a month. Considering that it was the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Can I just say I've been a little bit busy?

Thanksgiving was pleasant and low key at our house. There was just three of us. We had the full dinner then my friend and I spent the evening on a sewing project. One ironing board and two sewing machines, it was a lot of fun.

Another thing I've been busy with has been some photography Christmas gifts. I'll post photos after Christmas so as not to ruin any surprises.

It's Friday night and the husband is watching Friday Night Smackdown. I'm waiting until 10:20 p.m. at which time I can leave for the airport to pick up the kids.

We are looking forward to a fun filled Christmas weekend starting tomorrow with a Seahawks football game. This will be my first Seahawks game and we might even have fairly good weather. We're planning on riding the Sounder train.

The shopping is done, the presents are wrapped, the groceries are stocked. Now we wait until Christmas morning.

Merry Christmas to you all. Hope you have a beautiful Christmas Day with your family and those you love. And for those who are away from family at this time, be with friends and know you are loved and missed.

Merry Christmas!

Focus

2011-11-26T13:08:00.001-08:00

As an amateur photographer I have learned a great deal about the importance of focus when taking pictures. It doesn't matter how expensive my camera is, I on occasion still take a blurry picture.

I believe in anything we set out to do focus plays a key role. And I don't think that we give it the attention it really needs.

Today at the gym I went to a Zumba class. For 55 minutes my mind was free of all my worries, my long to do lists, grocery shopping, what's for dinner, fill in the blank, the list goes on.

For that 55 minutes I was focused on the class. I was focused on the teacher, on what my body could and couldn't do. I was focused on how good it felt to dance, to move freely. I enjoyed the music.

And it was on the way home from the gym that I realized what great joy there is when we focus on what we are doing. Before the class I was reading a book on the treadmill. So engrossed in reading I was oblivious to the people around me. Focused and thoroughly enjoying it.

There are plenty of times during our day where we can sit and plan, make lists and prepare for the next event in our lives. And I believe all that is necessary. I do some of my best thinking and mental list making while I'm driving or when I'm laying in bed in the morning.

And there are other times when we are out to dinner, enjoying a movie, watching a performance, outdoors for a walk, listening to a speaker, fill in the blank, the list goes on - those are the times we need to be there completely. 100% be there, focus on what you are involved in and enjoy it. Be there at that moment.

I think that's why meditation works. It causes you to clear your mind and focus. Try it next time you are involved in an activity. Whether the activity was of your choosing or not, choose to focus on what you are doing and see if that makes it that much better for you.

After all life was meant to be joyful.

Seattle in October

2011-10-22T19:49:00.000-07:00

Today I rode the Link train and the monorail to spend the day at the Seattle Center. I was attending the Northwest Chocolate Festival. When we came out at 4 pm the rain had stopped.

Energy

2011-10-16T16:30:00.000-07:00

Been spending some time lately thinking about energy.

Where does it come from, where does it go,

how do I store it, how do I get more of it?

And why do I get my best ideas during times when I can't act on them? Like I can day dream at work about all the things I want to accomplish at home. But then when I get home at the end of the day it's gone - my energy for those things I wanted to do.

I do keep lists and there are times when I actually cross things off my list. But I also add things to my list. That's why I like vacations. They take you away from your normal routine. They offer up a sort of distraction.

When I'm not really on a vacation, sometimes I like to pretend I am. Like to have an evening after work where I don't cook dinner, instead we eat out and I have some extra time to do something I want to do. Other times I try to get the laundry done on Thursday or Friday. A Saturday without laundry is a great day.

I do admit there are times when I'm unstoppable and I get a lot of things done. And I wonder where did I ever get the energy for all that?

I write a lot of things, but unfortunately, they are written in my head, in the car while I'm driving someplace by myself. Could be on the way to work and back or while I'm out and about running errands.

I need to be better about capturing the thoughts in my head onto the computer. I may resort to a tape recorder that I could talk into and then type it up later. But then again - where would I get the time and energy to do that?

I see a pattern here. I should just resort to Nike's motto and JUST DO IT! And add to that JUST DO IT NOW!

Active Church

2011-10-16T16:11:00.000-07:00

Yes, you read that correctly. It's not supposed to say active in church or active at church. It's really about the active church this weekend. I loved being there and seeing all the busyness that takes place at the church building.

It started on Friday night when we went to set up our tables and chairs for our Super Saturday activity. We planned to arrive as the other ward was ending a party. They had the place all cleaned up and were hanging around socializing and even pitched in to help us with our tables.

Then I was back there at 8:15 a.m. on Saturday morning. While we finished setting up, there were two couples scoping out the cultural hall in preparation for decorating next weekend for a wedding reception.

There was also a small group of volunteers cleaning the building.

At the same time our activity was going on there was a tri-stake music training going on in various rooms through out the building. In the kitchen were 3 boxes that hold those fun acrylic water pitchers and two sets of desserts for the two different events.

We cleaned up and left by 3:15. I know the rest of the day the building was hosting a baptism, practice for the youth music cantata and ending the day with a youth dance. What a great Saturday the building had!

Aged to Perfection

2011-10-16T15:59:00.000-07:00

This is my beautiful orchid that after 2 years without blossoms has bloomed. The leaves and flowers are larger than the same variety I see for sale in the stores. I think it's because this is a mature plant. The perfect combination of age and beauty which provides great joy.

Exquisite Grand Opening

2011-09-17T22:22:00.000-07:00

I've had a delightful week watching my first orchid bloom open up. This is my first orchid and I've had it for over two years. When I first got it from the store in full bloom, the blooms lasted about 5 months. For the past two years I have been watching, waiting and caring. And it has paid off.

Nature's Bouquet

2011-09-11T14:54:00.001-07:00

Photo slideshow generated with Smilebox

Enjoy some of my photos from my adventure to Sunrise at Mt. Rainier. Thanks to Loretta and Chris for letting me tag along. It was a wonderful day.

There is Sunshine in my Soul Today

2011-09-04T16:50:00.001-07:00

Today I taught a lesson at church. The lesson was from a General Conference talk by Elder Richard G. Scott from April 1996. The title of his talk is Finding Joy in Life.

I wanted to share a few highlights from his talk. To read it in it's entirety click here.

Sadness, disappointment, and severe challenges are events in life, not life itself.

We are here on earth for a divine purpose. It is not to be endlessly entertained or to be constantly in full pursuit of pleasure. We are here to be tried, to prove ourselves so that we can receive the additional blessings God has for us. The tempering effect of patience is required.

We are one of the noblest of God's creations. His intent is that our lives be gloriously beautiful regardless of our circumstances. As we are grateful and obedient, we can become all the God intends us to be.

If we question everything we are asked to do, or dig in our heels at every unpleasant challenge, we make it harder for the Lord to bless us.

Find the compensatory blessing in your life when, in the wisdom of the Lord, He deprives you of something you very much want.

Attempt to be creative for the joy it brings. Being creative will help you enjoy life. It engenders a spirit of gratitude. It develops latent talent, sharpens your capacity to reason, to act, and to find purpose in life. It dispels loneliness and heartache. It gives a renewal, a spark of enthusiasm, and zest for life.

Learn from aspiring individuals who have made peace with their challenges and live with joy amid adversity.

No matter how difficult something you or a loved one faces, it should not take over your life and be the center of all your interest.

Challenges are growth experiences, temporary scenes to be played out in the background of a pleasant life.

First Flight

2011-09-04T16:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I "flew" in a wind tunnel. It was one of the coolest things I've ever done. I was in a group of 10. First we sat and watched a training video, and then we learned the body position and hand signals for the instructor to communicate with us.

We then put on our flight suits with the attached straps going under our feet then tennis shoes on. Ear plugs, goggles and a helmet completed the outfit.

Once we were trained and suited up, we sat on the bench and waited our turn. One at a time we took our turn. We stood in the small door way in our ready position and then just flew into the wind tunnel. The instructor then took hold of us and assisted as we "flew" around.

The flight suits actually have handles on your shoulders and on the sides so the instructor can grab you and keep you in place. You basically lay out like Superman, hands and feet out, knees slightly bent.

When flying the wind is comforting, you bounce alittle and the instructor tries to keep you in proper form to move around. I could never actually see the instructor except for his hand signals in front of my face or when his hand would move my hand out to extend my arm.

You are only in the tunnel for 60 seconds. Then we sat and watched the others fly and then we got a second turn.

At the end the instructor went into the tunnel and soared right up to the top. Up and down a few times showing his skill.

It was a great experience and I will fly again. I want to learn to control the wind and my body as it's in motion in the wind.

I Met Her Today

2011-08-31T08:43:00.001-07:00

You know, that woman at the gym. The one that has to pick the treadmill right next to yours. I have about 5 minutes left of reading enjoyment before I have to head home. And she starts talking to me.

She commented on my very cool book holder that keeps the pages flat and then asked me what I was reading. Sleeping Beauty Proposal (as recommended by my sister). I was anxious to get in as much reading time as I could but I wanted to be polite.

Then she asked if I had read The Help (recommended by my daughter), which I have. Then we talked about the movie, which neither of us had seen yet. Then she asked if I had read Water for Elephants (recommended by my daughter), which I have. This again was followed by the discussion of the movie which we had both seen.

And then I had to politely close up my book and mumble to her something about it was time for me to go. It really was. I had walked on the treadmill for 40 minutes and needed to get on with the rest of my day.

Now I have to wait to see what happens to Genie and Nick in my book.

It's not that I don't love talking to people, I really do. It's just that I find it odd that someone would start talking to me when I am not only reading a book, but also wearing a headset!

I'm on a vacation day today so I was able to sleep in and go to the gym a little later than my normal time - maybe that explains it.

Top 10

2011-08-21T08:51:00.000-07:00

Top 10 ways you know your 10 year old grand daughter is visiting:

10 - You get to introduce her to new candies (Necco wafers)
9 - You get to eat ice cream cones before dinner
8 - You have your first visit to abercrombie kids store
7 - You get to watch a movie (Freaky Friday) on Friday night instead of WW Smackdown
6 - You have a really good reason to visit the Gourmet Popcorn store and sample wierd flavors
5 - It is reinforced that you can find anything on the internet, who knew there was a Sobe World?
4 - You get to make waffles with Cool Whip and berries for Saturday morning breakfast
3 - You have a buddy to take grocery shopping
2 - You laugh more
and the # 1 thing is - watching Grandpa act like a 10 year old!

Sat-ur-day

2011-08-14T08:49:00.000-07:00

This picture is how my Saturday ended.Here is how the rest of the day went:

cleaned house

ate breakfast (Voodoo choco donut and a bowl of fruit) while watching The Haven (show on SyFy I just discovered Friday night)

Saturday Market for berries (and cotton candy)

Carpinito's for Yakima Valley corn on the cob

Homemade peach jam

Homemade blackberry jam

The evening spent in Mukilteo at a friend's 10th wedding anniversary/vow renewal party

and there was dancing, and I danced.

My New Best Friend

2011-08-09T19:48:00.001-07:00

Yes, my new friend may be cold and made of metal and eats thread, and I do have to pay money to spend time with it, but it was worth every penny and I'll do it again.

Clean Up in Aisle One

2011-08-01T21:10:00.000-07:00

Why is it that when you notice a mess in the store and you go report it that you feel like the employees are pretty sure you made the mess? When you didn't. Really I didn't.

I was coming up an aisle and could see a yellow puddle on the floor, that should have been my first warning. Odor just kicking in, second warning. Curious I went around the corner and there was a case of beer turned upside down.

Evidently someone knocked it over, broke some glass inside and walked away. How could you not know that you did that?

That leaves me walking past it and noticing it and reporting it to an employee. I did my best not to say "and I didn't do it".

Because I really didn't do it.

But I did have this happen to me one time. Maybe I do understand.

Progress - One Week Later

2011-07-27T18:41:00.001-07:00

Here is it a week later. I'm very happy to report that it's still growing. I've been handling it very carefully.

A Delicate Orchidstration

2011-07-21T16:32:00.000-07:00

It was Valentine's Day February 2009. Instead of cut flowers I suggested to my husband that I would like an orchid plant. I've never had one before. We bought this orchid and the blooms stayed on it until June or July that same year.

For the last two years I have faithfully watered it once a week. I kept it in a north window in my home office. It grew new roots and new leaves.

About 2 weeks ago it started sprouting a spike. I had to wait to see if it was going to be a root or a real spike for blooms.

Turns out it's highly possible that it will bloom sometime this summer.

I am very excited about it.

This orchid is called a Phalaenopsis (fayl-eh-NOP-sis).

Wish me luck!

Summer Vacation

2011-07-12T21:27:00.001-07:00

Here is a short recap of our summer vacation with family at the cabin.

This year at the max we had 15 of us. We got to meet Katie's husband Brent for the first time and puppy Jake. What a great opportunity for him to meet so much of the family at one time. When they left he said, "it was great having four Moms".

There was eating, fishing, sewing, building, cleaning, cooking, unclogging, playing, swinging, quilt raffle, games, sleeping, reading and more.

We saw Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at the Playmill Theatre in West Yellowstone, great fun as always.

We had eggs, bacon, pancake, potatoes and trout for breakfast (not all of it everyday).

We had strawberries with angel food cake, smores, caramel corn, ranger cookies, chocolate rice krispie treats, cake, home made bread and chocolate fudge.

We had chicken, enchilada casserole, macho chili, chicken haystacks and baked potatoes.

We had fireworks, dogs (didn't go so well with the fireworks), pranks and a plastic spider.

We had fun!

The Great Nieces and Nephews

2011-07-04T15:52:00.001-07:00

In June when we did our annual road trip to Idaho I got to visit with most of my great nieces and nephews. Thanks to my siblings for sharing your grandkids with me! They were all so much fun.

Here are pictures of all 7 of my great nieces and nephews.

All the pictures were taken in June 2011.

Sister Sue's grandson Ethan (age 2).Brother Dave's grandson Nathan (age 15). Bottom right of photo.
Brother Dave's grand-daughter Vanessa celebrating her 3rd birthday. The newest Nielson and the baby boy to carry on the family name, Dave's grandson Blaze almost 5 months Sister Becky's grandson Tristan (age - 1 month away from 9)
Sister Becky's grand-daughter Kali (age - almost 6)
And last but not least (in Oregon), Nancy's grand-daughter Harper celebrating her 3rd birthday.

Re-Entry

2011-06-29T17:00:00.000-07:00

"Re-Entry: a reentering; specif., a coming back, as of a space vehicle, into the earth's atmosphere."

It's day 9, the final day of our family vacation. We have 500 miles to drive before we get home. Lots of time to spend just thinking while driving or sitting in the truck. Nine hours actually.

Vacation was wonderful but tomorrow would be Monday, back to work. I opted to work from home on Monday to ease into the transition.

My train of thought that day went over mountains and through tunnels and occasionally came to a screeching halt --- the things that would have to be done once we got home --- things I never had to even think about the previous week.

work, meetings, laundry, grocery shopping,teaching on Sunday,

paying bills, housecleaning, waking up early, hitting the gym,
commuting, the list went on and on...

The traffic on I-90 had a couple of rough spots, we made it to the kennel to pick up Missy before closing. At home we unpacked the truck, putting the totes in the garage for later. Unpacked our suitcases, ran to the store for some basics and Chinese food for dinner.

Then. I. Crashed. And then it was Monday!

Grab Bag for Big Kids

2011-06-11T14:02:00.000-07:00

I remember when I was a kid how much fun grab bags were. At a store there would be a brown paper bag in a box marked "boy" or "girl". You picked a bag and paid for it and whatever was inside now belonged to you. It might be a ring, a toy, a puzzle, you had no idea until you opened it. Today at an Estate Sale I found my version of a grab bag for big kids. We were able to go through all the rooms in this house. In a spare bedroom was an old Kenmore sewing machine and next to it was this cool blue box marked 7.00. I admit I did peek inside because I could! I decided between the box itself and the goodies inside it was worth 7.00. When I got home I took pictures as I discovered all the cool things inside the box. Of course there are items that will be thrown away and other items that will continue their journey to the thrift store for someone else to discover. The beaded bag which is the best find in the box, I'm going to give to one of my sisters. I think she'll like that. She'll have to finish off the bag, it still has the thread and beads attached to it. Who among us doesn't have unfinished projects sitting around? There were little Japanese packages and when I opened them I discovered a cool cutting tool and then four different sizes of very tiny thin sewing needles. They are silver with gold eyes. Let me know if you have any idea what they would be used for. I've never seen any that tiny.

Here is the box, such a cool box.

These would be used for snipping threads. I like them a lot.

See the little tiny Japanese papers? That's what the little needles are wrapped in.

I've never seen one of these beaded purses in the process of being made. Really cool.

Nice little Fiskar scissors. One can never have too many pairs of scissors. All in all, a great find.

For the Beauty of the Earth

2011-06-10T20:10:00.000-07:00

This is Why

2011-06-08T20:55:00.001-07:00

This is why we keep things. Things like old letters and scraps of paper, kept packed away in boxes, in the bottom of the closet. Why? Simply to make me smile on a Sunday afternoon as I sit on my bedroom floor sorting through boxes to "downsize" the "stuff".

This was in a letter from my Mom. She loved to write poetry. They were living in St. George at the time and for a few years, I was able to fly down and visit for a long weekend in February or March. It was a great time to escape the rain in Seattle and I usually timed it to attend Dad's Barbershop Chorus show.

Here is the poem my Mom wrote on my last visit. It was in March of 1998 and my Father passed away three months later in June.

TRUDY CAME TO OUR HOUSE

When Trudy came to our house
Things were changed around.
She straightened up my bathroom
And now things can be found.

She helped her dad at the computer
And made him feel the king.
She made for me some ID cards
To last me plum till spring.

And then guess what happened?
Trudy went shopping at the mall
She came home with new shoes,
I thought she'd buy them all.

It was early in the morning
We drove her in the car
Where she could catch the shuttle
It was early I recall.

Now she is back in Kent
A walking in the rain
And our home will miss Trudy,
To feel her touch again.

L.c. - march 1998

Nuttier than a Fruitcake

2011-05-27T07:07:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not talking about myself, and not about you either.

This was seen on a T-shirt at the gym this morning. As I was driving home the humor of it hit me if you think of it from a few different perspectives.

What if the woman wearing it actually bought it for herself? And what if she didn't buy it for herself?

What if it was a gift from:

Her husband?
Her 15 year old son?
Her 30 year old daughter?
Her sister?
Her best friend?
Her ex-husband?
Her mother-in-law?

Regardless, it made me smile early on a Friday morning.

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T17:13:00.001-07:00

I'm kind of at a loss for words today. Sometimes it's just best not to speak at all. Mother's Day wishes are everywhere you look. Including the chocolate candies given out today at church. The little children sang and it was so sweet. And to sit up front and see the faces of the adults while the kids sang was priceless.

Thoughts of my Mom have been with me for the last couple of weeks. The lilac tree given to me 7 years ago when she died, is blooming right now. She would have loved the fact that we have a lilac tree planted in her memory.

One of my friends posted this as her Facebook status today: Here's to Great Women: May we know them, May we raise them, May we become them! Happy Mother's Day!

A week ago I had the opportunity to co-teach Relief Society with the Young Women's president. It was very thought provoking to sit there with girls and women from ages 12 to 95 in the same room. The beauty of youth and the wisdom and wrinkles of age sitting together.

The dreams yet to come of those young women mingled with the pain, the joy and the life experiences of the older women. I felt it all in that room that day.

Here is a tribute to my Mom I wrote a couple of years ago on Mother's Day: http://tgaytan.blogspot.com/2009/05/blog-post.html

On this Mother's Day I pay tribute to the women who touch the lives of others in so many different ways.

I hope you know that you do make a difference.

April + Utah + Sisters + Daughters = FUN

2011-04-28T22:14:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what year it started. I think it might have been in 2000 when my daughter was going to school and living in Provo. Sometime back then I thought it would be fun to go to Utah in April and visit my daughter and my sister.

I do remember being there one year and having my brother-in-law Rand barbecue hamburgers for us. Rand passed away in 2003 so I know for sure it was before that time that this odyssey began. And one year I remember having my Mom with me and visiting my daughter's college apartment (however that could have also been in the fall, but it's a good memory anyway).

Sometime in the early years, my other two sisters from Idaho decided to join in the fun. Nancy was teaching school so our vacation time was determined by her spring break.

This year we all flew in on Wednesday. Sue and Becky arrived first, I was to arrive 15 minutes later. The agreement was to meet at the baggage claim. I went to baggage claim, looked for them, got my luggage, called them - no answer, kept walking around looking for them.

And then I spotted them, sitting against the window playing with Nancy's brand new iPad 2. Evidently there are some great games on it!

Natalie left work for the day and picked us up. From the airport it was off to Red Iguana for lunch with son-in-law Scott and cousin Russell. This was the second time I've eaten there and all I can say is if you live in SLC and have never been there - go. Go now, go tomorrow, just go you won't regret it, well maybe you will regret it later if you eat some of the spicier foods.

From there the four of us ladies went browsing at the Capital City Antique Mall. It was great fun to look around at so much STUFF. Even funnier was finding stuff that you actually have at home - and you still use it! It's a cluster of consignment booths, so really there was something for everyone.

I came home with two bracelets and a pair of earrings. Like I need more earrings.

Then we hit the freeway for Utah County. We had Papa Murphy's pizza for dinner and Natalie hung out before heading home and to work the next day.

Over the next couple of days we sorted, cleaned, organized, dumped, shopped, ate, you name it we probably did it. I'm pretty sure I managed two trips to Wal-Mart daily for one thing or another. I began to consider that my daily workout.

It is so true that many hands make light work. So much was accomplished. Nancy loved her new iPad and we got to Skype with the Madsons in Oregon and hear Harper sing sweet little songs, she is adorable.

We stayed up really, really late every single night. Usually watching movies, then winding down and reading. And did I mention there might have been some caramel corn, brown sugar fudge, creamies and 100 calorie Fat Boys? Can you really call them Fat Boys if they are only 100 calories?

On Friday we enjoyed a visit from two of our Aunts who drove up from Manti. We had a lovely lunch of chicken salad on croissants with strawberry shortcake for dessert. It was great to see them and to sit and visit.

Natalie took the day off work on Friday and hung out with us in Springville. Then Friday night I went with her to West Jordan to spend the night at her house. We met Scott for dinner at Lugano's and had some delicious Italian food.

Then it was home for 2 hours of Rock Band, oh yeah, Rock Band.

Saturday morning I headed to downtown to meet up with the Avalos family at the Salt Lake City temple. Why oh why did I not know about the Salt Lake City marathon that closed many, many roads that morning? I did make it on time and got to see Susie, Rudy, Lillie, Long, Goldie, Aleena and got to meet Isaac for the first time. That was fun.

I picked up some sandwiches from an Italian deli and Natalie and I then headed back to Utah County. Emily joined us at Lillie and Long's open house in Provo.

Then we were back at Nancy's for Emily's homemade lasagna, movie night and hair styling. Scott and Heidi came over a few times to pick up things, haul away things, eat and visit.

Becky got her hair trimmed and feathers added in. And then Sunday at the airport we started seeing more women with feathers in their hair. Not everyone can pull it off, but Becky's looked great.

Natalie also got a trim and some highlights and then it was eye brow waxing for everyone. Thanks Emily!

Sunday we tried to sleep in. The day feels like a reverse day of Wednesday, the day we arrived. We left Springville midday. Stopped for a tour of Scott's new house. It's a great place. Then we met Russell and Scott for lunch at Mimi's, browsed the book store and then off to the airport.

Our flights were about 45 minutes apart. So we got to hang out in the Southwest hub for a while longer to visit.

It was a great trip this year. We are already talking hot spots to see and eat at next year!

Here are a few pictures.

Two on the floor, one on the couch and one on the loveseat. (We're not sure how old is too old to be sleeping on an air mattress on the floor - I guess when that time comes we'll know!)

Trudy, Natalie, Lillie and Emily
Very pretty hair and very cool feathers.

Sisters Trip to Utah

2011-04-22T22:11:00.000-07:00

It's an annual thing. I fly from Seattle, two others fly from Boise and we all end up at our sister's house in Springville, Utah. We clean, eat, watch movies, visit, read, play on computers and iPad,learn to Skype, clean some more, do laundry, haul garbage, shop at Wal-Mart (daily), and stay up very late.

We camp out in the living room, moving our suitcases from room to room each morning.

Here are pictures from the last six years (minus 2007, couldn't find the pictures from that year).

2006

2008
2009
2010
2011

April

2011-04-01T21:12:00.000-07:00

I just noticed I only posted once in the entire month of March. Hard to believe March is over now. I think the highlight of March was my sister coming to town and attending three days of the Quilting and Sewing Expo at the Puyullap Fairgrounds. It's a wonderful experience and a chance to take classes from a lot of ladies who have sewing shows on TV. It gets you really excited to work on projects. And I have plenty of projects to finish, that's for sure. http://www.sewexpo.com/ Here is Rita's blog: http://sewingandstitcheryexpo.blogspot.com/

Just Do It!

2011-03-17T19:32:00.000-07:00

I finally get it. I so totally get it now. Life is so much easier if you just "do it".

After working all day I come home and make dinner. After dinner I don't want to do anything. Some days I leave the dishes just sitting there only to discover that by the next day the only thing they have done while I've been at work - is multiplied.

And when I do take the time immediately after dinner to clean up the kitchen it always surprises me of how it doesn't really take me much time at all, and I love having a clean kitchen. It just makes me feel good and ready for tomorrow.

I believe that sometimes we spend too much time thinking, considering and pondering about something, when in reality we should just DO IT!

So just throw yourselves into that thing you keep putting off. You'll be pleasantly surprised how good it makes you feel.

Amenities

2011-02-26T12:50:00.000-08:00

The reason I changed gyms was for the amenities. In this case a swimming pool, hot tub, steam room and sauna. I'm a huge fan of saunas. Most days I don't have time to change into my swim suit and enjoy these amenities, but today being Saturday I had all the time I wanted.

I learned today that the treadmill will automatically stop at 1 hr 5 minutes. That is a 1 hr work out with a 5 minute cool down and if you aren't paying attention, it just slows down and stops. What a surprise to me to discover that I'd been on it that long.

That is what a good book does for me at the gym. I'm currently reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett on a recommendation from my daughter and I absolutely love it. (Soon to be a movie, how's that for a debut novel?)

After my time on the treadmill I put on my bathing suit and went first to the sauna. They have put a new thermometer in there and it was reading somewhere around 190. That was the first time I felt the tops of my ears getting kind of hot.

Then I rinsed in the shower by the pool and sat in the hot tub, it was barely at 100, it's usually at 104 or so. But it still felt very good.

Then it was on to the steam room. The steam room is a little bit tricky. Unlike the sauna where you can see how crowded it is through the window, the steam room is well, steamy. So when you walk in it takes a minute to see where people are sitting and where the open space is. And then because I hadn't been in the steam room for months, I had to learn how to breathe in there all over again. The others sit relaxed while I sit and pant and breath through my mouth. But I survived.

After I had showered and dressed I went into the shower area to retrieve my bathing suit and there were two women, looked liked a mother and daughter, they were fully clothed and did not speak English. It appeared they were asking me how to use the shower.

Really, how to use a shower? Well I humored them and stepped into the shower and showed them the pump for the shampoo and pretended to put it my hair and then I showed them the other pump and pretended to put it on my arms. I then stepped to the side and reached in and turned the water on. I think this met with their satisfaction.

I walked away thinking I really must have been on candid camera just then.

My daughter coined the term "gym drama" to describe the happenings of the recognizable strangers you see at the gym on a regular basis.

I have created my list of sauna etiquette, but so far the gym has yet to ask my opinion on it. If I ruled the sauna these would be my rules:

No talking on your cell phone
If you must listen to music turn down the volume
Don't dump your water bottle over your head when you are sitting next to me
Be gentle with the door opening and closing, don't throw it wide open and let the draft of cold air in
Be cautious when talking about your ex girlfriend, because I find it awkward when you show up with her 3 months later and you have talked about her to total strangers
No shaving

Happy exercising to all!

Four Day Weekend

2011-02-23T19:25:00.001-08:00

My daughter flew home last Friday for a four day weekend. Although I see her once or twice a year, she hadn't been home since 2008. We had a great time. Here are the truffles we made. We made milk chocolate truffles and also semisweet truffles. We started them Friday and finished them on Saturday and probably made about 100 balls!
We didn't eat them all, we shared them with friends.

A quick recap of the weekend follows:
There was lunch at the Banyan Tree at Kent Station, a movie. Lots of shopping at Westlake Center, and South Center Parkway. Lunch at Panera Bakery, dessert at Cheesecake Factory, a trip to Trader Joe's.

For her, dinner and a visit with high school friends.

A ride on the Link train to downtown. A walk to Top Pot Doughnuts, Pike Place and ice cream on the Seattle waterfront.

Trudy's Florist Shop, (much better than Trudy's Tavern). This is something we do, find places around town with our names on them. Like Wally Park and Wayne's Tires.

Waiting for the Link train.
Almost learned how to use the timer on the new camera!

Topped off the weekend with dinner at Wally's Chowder House.
It was a great weekend.

The First 8 Days

2011-02-09T20:38:00.001-08:00

Last week, after working from home for three years we all returned to the office. What a big adjustment to my schedule that has been.

Here are some of the things that have happened in those 8 work days:

Carpooled - 2 times
Ate biscuits and gravy for breakfast from the cafeteria - 2 times (how can I resist?)
Bought lunch from the cafeteria - 3 times
Put coins in the vending machine - 2 times (both times on the way out the door before driving home, a really bad habit, in case you were wondering it was a Twix and red licorce)
Skipped the gym - 1 time
Took treats to work - 2 times (brioche bread and sugar cookies)
Walked at lunch time - 4 times
Ran into people in the building that I've known for years - many times

Weekly Menus

2011-02-06T15:39:00.000-08:00

Last week I returned to working at the office after working from home for three years. A return to putting on nice clothes, getting up early and commuting.

In order to keep things running smoothly at home I had to make dinner menus before grocery shopping on Saturday. That way I know exactly what is for dinner when I get home from work and I can look ahead to know when to take meat out of the freezer, or when I might need an quick trip to the grocery store.

This was last weeks menu:
Chicken noodle soup w/sandwiches (Cash n' Carry soup)
Chili and cornbread muffins
Leftover chili
Sausage, rice and veggies
Whole roasted chicken w/roasted red potatoes
Baked potatoes w/hamburger gravy

This is the plan for this upcoming week:
Pork stir-fry with noodles
Russian chicken with rice pilaf
Flank steak tacos w/all the fixings
White chicken chili w/tortillas, cheese and sour cream
Layered enchilada casserole
Pork chops

Plastic Addiction (con't)

2011-01-25T20:31:00.000-08:00

I was only joking about being addicted to plastic. But it's not a joke anymore. I caught myself in the grocery store last week admiring the plastic containers with matching lids for sale on the end aisles, and the plastic Popsicle makers hanging in the cereal aisle. So I stepped away from the plastic.

And then today, today I get an email from Tupperware. Who knew I had signed up long ago to be on a mailing list? And I did it, I clicked the link. I went to the ultimate world of plastic. And I was enticed by this Insulated Tumbler with Drip-Less™ Straw Seal. Isn't that cute? And it's on sale.

But that wasn't all, on the same sale page was the Spring One Touch® Canisters set. Have you ever seen anything so cute? You could buy two sets, keep one and then separate the other set and give them out as gifts filled with Valentine's candy. Oh my. I want them. Or is it just the candy in the photo I'm desiring?

Just when I thought it was safe I came across these. Spring Tumblers. (I missed the fall and winter tumblers.) How adorable are these? Tupperware you are killing me! Liquid tight seals even. But alas, they are not on sale.

Did I or didn't I? Buy that is. The answer is no. Not today. Not yet anyway. The night is still young.

If you really want to take a peek, here is the Tupperware website. Whatever you do, DO NOT go look in the SERVE category. Purple plates, I tell you they have purple plates. And the hourglass salt and pepper shakers, yes you do remember those. I need those.

No more plastic, no more cupboard space, but it's so pretty and I can take it to the office, no more plastic, no more cupboard space.

Picture Taking Practice

2011-01-25T20:20:00.000-08:00

I am taking on a new hobby - photography. I've always had it as a hobby but now I'm taking it to the next level. I just purchased a new Nikon Digital SLR camera.

I'm very excited to be learning about something new. To keep my brain working, thinking, being creative. My focus word for 2011 is imagine - so what better way to stretch my imagination than behind the lens of a camera?

The instruction manual offers plenty of reading; I took it to the gym this morning and started reading it on the treadmill. This afternoon I had time to turn on my camera for the first time and take it for a walk in my neighborhood.

A January day in Kent, rainless for the day, and still green. See my photos here.

A few things I'm excited about are playing with the remote control and learning the manual settings.

Hi, My Name is Trudy and I'm an Addict!

2011-01-14T20:29:00.000-08:00

Addicted to plastics evidently. This is my attempt to clean out a very large cupboard full of Tupperware, Gladware and Rubbermaid. It took me two days and I have 2 large kitchen garbage bags ready for the thrift store tomorrow. I really need to stop watching Enough Already with Peter Walsh on OWN.

Every time I'm watching one of his episodes, my mind is churning to what my next declutter project will be.

When you see yellow Tupperware, you know it's old. That square angel food cake pan was a great find recently at a thrift store. I guess what goes around comes around as they say. I kept it.

Lids, everywhere. How do you keep your containers and lids matched up and stored? There must be some secret to it. I kept some in the drawer, the ones I use frequently and the other lids are stored in the cupboard in a plastic shoe bin (that I actually discovered in the cupboard).

Old yellow again, and to tell you the truth - I kept both of them.

I kept enough, I have space for it. And everything I kept has a lid. There were some items I had planned to keep but after I washed them and then realized I hadn't used them in years - they're going.

Today my project was handbags and belts. I didn't have too many handbags and I'm only getting rid of one of them. I'm not a big fan of purses, so I seldom buy them and I reuse them till they wear out.

A bad habit I have is to change purses and not fully clean out the old purse. So today I was thrilled to find a great purse in my closet and had fun looking through the "memory" papers from 2001 that were in the bag.

On to belts. For some reason in the 70s and 80s I wore belts with everything. Back then almost every single pair of pants you bought came with it's own belt. All these years I thought I had great treasures of cool, old belts in my closet.

Well today I discovered I had simply, old worn out belts, that do not fit and even if they did I would never wear them! So there is another bag for the thrift store.

Confession - I kept three of the old belts. The ones that are very wide and mostly elastic, they'll be back in style some day.

Morale of the story: simplify, live with less, it feels so good.

IMAGINE

2011-01-09T22:04:00.001-08:00

imagine

2011-01-06T22:02:00.001-08:00

I read a blog the other day and she spoke of a focus word for the year. I liked that idea and took some time to think about it and came up with my focus word for 2011.

imagine.

The dictionary defines imagine as:
transitive verb
1: to form a mental image of (something not present)
2: archaic: plan, scheme
3: suppose/guess; (I imagine it will rain)
4: to form a notion of without sufficient basis

intransitive verb
1: to use the imagination
2: believe

Synonyms: conceit/conceive/conjure+(up)/dream/envisage/envision/fancy/fantasize/fantasy/feature/ideate/image/picture/see/vision/visualize

I see the word in the context of forming a mental image. Creating something in my mind first, and then creating it in the world.

And in believing. If you can imagine something, then you can believe it.

I imagine this year will be a wonderful year, full of many imaginings and happenings.

1-1-11

2011-01-01T11:11:00.001-08:00

Of course I have to post on this day. And as I write it's 11:11 on 1-1-11!

What a cool date.

Happy New Year to all.

I did manage to stay up until 12:30 a.m. to welcome in the New Year.

2010 - My Year in Review

2010-12-27T13:52:00.000-08:00

As 2010 comes to a close, it's hard to believe that the year 2000 was a decade ago. Here is a quick recap of my year.

Business trip to Washington DC in March with a layover in Minneapolis with enough time to go see the Mall of America.

Sisters trip to Utah in April.

Family vacation to the cabin in June.

Wally and I did a getaway weekend to the Olympic National Park. We stayed at Crescent Lake, it was great.

Lillie visited us in Seattle in August.

I decided to stop coloring my hair. I want to see what my natural color is.

Wally's sister Carmen passed away of cancer.

My sister's father-in-law Lloyd Berg passed away.

Best fiction book I read this year - The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

Best nonfiction book I read this year - Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl.

New fun to read fiction author I discovered - Diane Mott Davidson.

Saw Los Lonely Boys in concert.

Saw Heart in concert at the Puyallup Fair.

Met the Pioneer Woman at her cookbook signing - thanks to Melissa for getting me the ticket.

Developed the habit of going to the gym in the early morning before work. Still going 4 - 5 days a week at 6:15 a.m.

I decided I liked knitting on a loom and made hats for Christmas gifts.

Happy to still be gainfully employed and at the time still working from home.

The family is happy and healthy and looking forward to 2011.

Homemade Christmas Things

2010-12-26T15:15:00.000-08:00

Now that the gifts have been given and opened I can post a few pictures of some things I made for Christmas gift - hats and table runners.

The table runners are made in a Chevron pattern and are a quilt as you go design. The hats are made on the Provo Craft circle knitting looms. I'm loving the knitting loom right now. I think because it's something I can actually start and finish!

Now I have a couple, okay more than a couple, of quilting projects to finish. Pictures later.

What to Do

2010-12-20T21:48:00.001-08:00

The other day as I was procrastinating, I was thinking that most everything I do falls into these categories: what I want to do, what I need to do and what I actually end up doing.

Some evenings I want to do absolutely nothing, maybe knit in front of the TV. What I need to do is usually clean up the kitchen, maybe some laundry. Sometimes what I actually end up doing is sitting at the computer.

I guess I just have to find the balance in the needs and the wants and then throw in some of the "whatever I do is just fine" and be satisfied.

A Visual Reminder

2010-12-12T14:49:00.000-08:00

I found this picture on a blog. The lady had driven past this church in Rhode Island and turned around to have a better look.

When I look at this picture it reminds me that we all have basic needs, some of us have more than others and there is always at least one little thing we can do to help another person, without judgement.

Hair Update

2010-12-01T21:27:00.000-08:00

At 5 1/2 months. I'm really liking the color that is coming in. And it even looks like I'm growing new baby hair in my receding hair line.

On Cory Lane

2010-11-14T15:58:00.000-08:00

I grew up on Cory Lane in Boise, Idaho. I lived there from 1965 until I went away to college in 1975. We had a big two story five bedroom home with a barn, carport and a pasture with irrigation ditches.

There are times now when I go outside in the late evening to retrieve something from my car or take out the garbage and I look at the dark quiet street and the stars in the sky and it often reminds me of my teenage years when I stood outside at night on Cory Lane.

On Cory Lane

At night the sky hangs over us,

the stars quietly fill in the space.

The moon gazes down

and I am at peace.

During the day time I sometimes stand

before my second story window,

looking down the street.

But no one is there.

I sit in my room and listen

to my records.

I sing along, loudly.

In the summertime we go to

the neighbors garage,

and we get to play

the jukebox.

All the neighborhood kids are there

and we have fun.

Dad convinces me it's fun to help him in the garden,

I play in the irrigation water,

and pretend to waterski on the front lawn.

In the front and in the back

there stands a weeping willow tree.

Did you know you really can

grab a branch and swing from it?

Sometimes in the yard there might be a snake,

or the calf gets out of the pasture

and frightens us outside the living room window.

My dislike of catepillars is from Cory Lane.

They would hang from the apple tree

and drop down on you.

Big, fat fuzzy catepillars.

In the front yard was also a black walnut tree.

The walnuts would fall to the ground,

we would then have to pick them up

and place them in the driveway,

where the cars would run over them

and the outside layer

would fall away.

Revealing a hard black shell.

Mom would sit and crack them,

and then she would put them in her

homemade candy.

(I never learned to like the taste of them.)

We rode bikes, a lot.

And we wore beaded necklaces that we had made.

We wore t-shirts and levi's.

We liked A & W, Dairy Queen and McDonald's.

We liked girls camp.

And eventually we liked boys.

And dancing.

And then we grew up.

And I still like A&W, Dairy Queen and McDonald's,

one boy in particular

and dancing.

Habits

2010-11-12T21:43:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been thinking a lot about habits. Good habits and bad habits. Last April I made the decision to start going to the gym at 6:00 a.m. before work. My goal was to go five days a week, Monday - Friday.

In the beginning it was hard, I had to wake up one hour earlier than normal. There were days I wanted to turn off the alarm and stay in bed. There were times when I went out of town and got off my schedule.

But I went right back to it when I could. I think they say it takes 3 weeks before a habit becomes routine. Or if you are trying to break a bad habit, then it would take that long to replace the bad habit with a good habit.

I really like exercising in the morning. I get it done and then when I get off work it's one less thing to do. It makes me feel good to start my day that way. Some days I get to spend some time in the sauna, which is one of my favorite things to do.

I worried when summer was ending, knowing it would get darker and colder in the mornings. But you know what happened? The darkness and the cold were gradual. Because I was still going every morning, I adjusted to it. I've had ice on the windshield this week but that's okay.

I had a few workouts with a trainer and was even given two free sessions. That helped to change up my routine and learn new things. The only downside to mornings are that most of the classes offered are later in the day.

Another added benefit is getting to spend a solid 30 or 45 minutes reading while on a machine.

Now that I have this good habit established, maybe it's time to conquer another one.

Happy Birthday to My Son!

2010-11-08T17:10:00.001-08:00

This is my son in 1988 at age 6 at my wedding to Wally. Today he turns 28 years old.

He still has the dark hair, the dark eyes, but he lost the baby fat.

He is a talented artist, loves all kinds of music, takes good car of his car, works hard, likes to fish, likes to go to concerts, he's quiet, he's helpful, he's kind and he has a good sense of humor. And when he was younger he would play Yahtzee with me on Sunday nights.

He was the child at the grocery store check out when I would say, "would you like a candy?" his reply was "no". The child that would have to be physically carried out of Toys 'R Us, (but quietly, no big scenes for him).

The child that played one season of T-ball and one season of soccer and then announced to me that he knew where we could just buy the trophies instead of having to play the sports!

The child that brought home caterpillars in his pocket only to be discovered months later as cocoons hanging on his shirt in the closet.

As a baby, a child, a teen and an adult he has brought great joy to my life.

Happy Birthday Wayne, may this be a great year for you.

Love,
Mom

The View from Above

2010-11-04T19:44:00.001-07:00

Wow is all I have to say! Getting there, just taking awhile. (I don't actually wear my hair combed back like this, if you were wondering.)

O is for Orange in October

2010-10-24T19:27:00.000-07:00

Things that are orange in October:
Pumpkins

Candy corn

Leaves

M&Ms

Candy wrappers

Decorations

Funny socks

Lights

Earrings

Frosting

Candles

Hair Update - 4 Months

2010-10-10T18:13:00.001-07:00

Well, this week it will be four months since I last colored my hair. I have had three hair cuts in that time. You can see the growth at my part and on the sides. So far I like what I see growing in, it's just taking such a long time.

At this rate I figure it'll probably be about 4 to 6 more months before it's all transitioned. The pictures help me see reality which sometimes is different than what I see in the mirror.

To see my transition photos in one spot visit the Going Gray Looking Great website.

10-10-10

2010-10-10T17:57:00.000-07:00

That's just an eye catching date, isn't it? Pretty cool. For some reason this week I started thinking about where I've been the last 53 years and who I've lived with. Here are some mildly interesting facts about my life here on earth, so far anyway.

I lived in the state of Idaho for 18 years, then moved to Utah for college and then stayed for 13 years. From Utah I remarried and moved to Washington state. I have been here for 22 years.

So that means I lived with my Mom and Dad for 18 years. I actually went away to college just weeks before my 18th birthday. I did come home maybe one summer, then moved home briefly after college for about 8 months, then went back to Utah and one time in my first marriage we briefly moved in with my parents in Idaho. (I don't count those speed bumps of my life as part of my years in Idaho.)

Since I have lived in Washington state for 22 years, that means I have lived with my husband for 22 years, which is longer than I lived with my parents. However, my daughter only lived with Wally and me for 10 years, before heading off to college and not really ever living home again after that. My son has lived with Wally and I for 20 of those 22 years. (And he is still here!)

If you think about how many years you actually lived with your siblings, one can understand the necessity of constantly nurturing those relationships as adults. My oldest sister was 10 years old when I was born, which means I was only 8 years old when she went away to college.

Life is fascinating. Relationships are fascinating. Enjoy the journey!

I Heart Hula Hoops

2010-09-29T22:10:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I am sitting on the plane in my aisle seat as the other passengers are boarding. The people lined up down the airplane aisle had come to a standstill. A young woman probably in her early 20's was standing right next to me carrying two small brightly colored rings. They looked too small to be hula hoops.

But I asked her anyway. Turns out she custom made her hula hoop so that she could take it apart and transport it in two smaller sections because she takes it everywhere with her. And when I asked her if it was weighted, she said it was not because she uses hers to do tricks.

I truly admire people like her.

Check out this guy.
I guess I better dust off the old hoop and get practicing!

Sweet Rewards

2010-09-10T22:24:00.000-07:00

Before

After

One small step for Trudy, one giant step for the kitchen drawers.

Hair Update

2010-09-03T12:32:00.000-07:00

First of all let me say I didn't actually color my hair red when I was coloring. It was

Chocolate Caramel (Garnier 535), who could resist a name like that? This is what it now looks like at 12 weeks since I last colored.

I've had it cut twice in the last 12 weeks. This picture is outdoors in the sun. I think the shot from above shows the roots better. It's quite a process getting the dye to grow out. I just thought dye faded and my hair returned to whatever it's natural color was.

But that's not the case, the dye transitions through it's own color cycle as the length grows. Then you cut, then you grow some more, then you trim again.

Stay tuned!

P.S. Forgot to add this link to the Going Gray Looking Great website. If you scroll down you'll see me in the fall semester 1 newbies class with my fellow soon-to-be silver sisters!

Pictures from Lake Crescent

2010-09-02T22:00:00.001-07:00

September Morn

2010-09-02T21:30:00.000-07:00

September Morn always reminds me of the Neil Diamond song September Morn and when I was a teenager my Mother told me about a painting of a nude woman that was called September Morn. I like the story about the painting, and the fact it took him three summers to paint it, (some of my projects take me that long to finish).

I was born 16 minutes after midnight on Sunday, September 1st. My Mother had celebrated her birthday just the day before. She told me that the doctor said if he had known that maybe he could have worked it so I was born on her birthday and she always told me she was glad I had my own day.

I took most of this week off on vacation, seemed like a good week to take some time off. Wally and I drove over to Port Angeles on Sunday, stopping at Poulsbo for a few hours and then spending two nights at Lake Crescent.

It was beautiful over there and nice to just get away. On Monday we were able to go to Sol Duc Hot Springs. I loved it there and hope to go back next year.

The day we planned to go to Hurricane Ridge we woke up to rain and shortly after we left Lake Crescent we received word that Wally's sister Carmen had passed away the night before.

She was just diagnosed 2 1/2 months ago with stage 4 cancer throughout her body. She was 56 years old. She was at the hospital and died in her sleep. We will be going to her funeral on Saturday and spending some time with the family.

We got home Tuesday afternoon.

Here is how I spent my birthday on Wednesday:

Slept in till 7:45 (neighbors dog starts barking about 7 am, most days I'm up by then so it doesn't bother me)
Had oatmeal and toast for breakfast with Wally
Went to Gene Juarez in Bellevue for a massage (gift card I received for Mother's Day)
Then went to Boehm's candies in Issaquah, didn't find the candy I was looking for that I found at Boehm's in Poulsbo, but bought the best malted milk balls I've ever had and some Hawaiian sea salt caramels
Then grabbed a quick bite and went home
Did a little sewing (see note above about projects taking me 3 years to finish)
Talked with my daughter on the phone
Had dinner at The Olive Garden with my husband and son
Came home and had pie and ice cream
Had so many birthday wishes on Facebook and electronic greeting cards, it was fun!

It was a lovely day.

Seattle Summer

2010-08-21T17:47:00.000-07:00

Lillie loved the flowers.
Lillie took this very cool shot of the EMP and Space Needle.

This week I had a visit from my niece and got to play tourist. I'm embarrassed to say I hadn't been to Pike Place all summer. We had so much fun. We did a lot of walking and rode the monorail to the Seattle Center.

The weather was perfect, the market was crowded, flowers were beautiful. We had a fun time.

Friday night we went to dinner at Mama Stortinis at Kent Station. Lillie flew home to California Saturday morning.

Hair Update

2010-08-08T16:11:00.000-07:00

What a boring title for this post! However, I need to mark that it's been 8 weeks since my hair was last colored. I also went and got a much shorter cut. I'm happy with the cut, it's fun having it short and it cleaned the ends up quite a bit.

Happy Birthday Dad!

2010-08-07T21:54:00.001-07:00

Today is my Father's Birthday. He was born 96 years ago today.

Here is a post I wrote two years ago: Remembering Dad

This is a picture of my 73 year old Father walking me down the aisle in 1988.

Delete

2010-08-07T18:08:00.000-07:00

There is a lot of freedom when you hit the delete button. It is like setting something free, letting go. Today I deleted an email from April 2008. It was from a very close, dear friend of mine, who in a time of crisis felt alone, bitter and angry toward some of those people close to her.

It was the type of email one would write when you are so angry at a situation that you want to punch the wall. So instead you sit down and you write. Years ago, it would have been a hand written letter and once written, you would feel better and you would tear up that letter or burn that letter and move on.

Well that didn't happen, instead the email was sent. It was read out loud to my husband and summarized to a few other family members. Tears were shed for many months after. It was a breakup. A friendship breakup after 30 years. And it involved more than just two people, it involved families.

I have kept the email in my saved folder (why do we do that? I don't know) and during the first year I occasionally reread it to remind me why my friend no longer wanted to speak to me. Eventually I was able to laugh and joke about it. But was that just my defense mechanism, a way to avoid the pain? The hurt of the breakup remained.

People come in and out of our lives, they leave an imprint on our souls. And when they are gone that imprint remains, as does all the many memories, so much time shared together. The delete button doesn't remove any of that and I wouldn't want it to.

Our individual actions impact the lives of those around us in so many different ways and most of the time we have no idea how big that impact can be. Our daily decisions have the ability to alter our future.

Yes, I do believe life would be sweet if we could control how other people act, think and react. But it shouldn't really be a shock to discover that we don't have that kind of control. And really I don't think that's what we want.

So 2 years and 4 months later, I am hitting the delete button. I am turning the page. Will these tears I have now as I type this post be the last tears I shed over this situation? No, I'm sure they won't be.

But for now I will relish in the simple act of hitting the delete button.

Happy 30th on the 30th Natalie!

2010-07-29T22:16:00.001-07:00

Journal entry August 30, 1980 (with updated commentary - yes it took me one month to write in my journal):

"Natalie was born Wednesday morning, July 30, 1980 at 3:26 a.m. 7 lbs. 5 ozs. 21 inches long. On Monday the 28th I had a doctor's appt. in the afternoon. I went & he checked me - I was dilated to 3. He said that the baby was coming real soon, and he wanted to check me at 6:00 that evening. I went back to work (I was working at Castleton's in the ZCMI center) & everyone was real excited. We went at 6:00 and nothing had changed. Monday night nothing happened. Tuesday I didn't go to work, I did laundry & some other errands (laundry was an errand because I had to go to the laundromat). That night it rained a little. Sam & I walked to 7-11 and then we walked around the block (our next door neighbor suggested we walk to move things along). We came home & I was getting ready to go to bed and my water broke (luckily I was in the bathroom at the time). We called Dr. Rasmussen and we were at the hospital (LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City) before midnight. They checked me in at the hospital & hooked me up in a labor room. Sam was with me through it all. I was in labor for about 3 hours. It was a really neat experience to see the baby born. Quite a miracle! The hospital was really nice. I could have the baby with me anytime. I came home on Friday morning."

And that day my life was changed forever.

Happy 30th Birthday Natalie!
Love you lots, Mom

Forever Young
May the good Lord be with you
Down every road that you roam
And may sunshine and happiness
Surround you when you're far from home
And may you grow to be proud, dignified and true
And do unto others as you'd have done to you
Be courageous and be brave
And in my heart you'll always stay
Forever young, forever young
Forever young, forever young
May good fortune be with you
May your guiding light be strong
Build a stairway to Heaven
With a prince or a vagabond
And may you never love in vain
And in my heart you will remain
Forever young, forever young
Forever young, forever young
Forever young, forever young, yeah
And when you finally fly away
I'll be hoping that I served you well
For all the wisdom of a lifetime
No one can ever tell
But whatever road you choose
I'm right behind you, win or lose
Forever young, forever young
Forever young, forever young
Forever young, forever young
For, forever young, forever young

Happy 30th Birthday to My Daughter Natalie

2010-07-29T22:05:00.000-07:00

Life is Good!

Hair Update

2010-07-27T17:05:00.000-07:00

It's now been just over 6 weeks and this is where I'm at with my hair.

Does She or Doesn't She?

2010-07-16T19:45:00.001-07:00

Well she doesn't anymore. After more than a year of pondering to continue coloring my hair (every 4 weeks) or to go au naturel, I am going natural.

I found this amazing website and I love looking at the photos of the women as they grow out their hair and the bad part eventually gets cut off/grown out and replaced by whatever their natural color may be.

It's almost like waiting for Christmas morning to find out just how gray, white or silver my hair might be. I'm guessing at my current length (which will likely get shorter) it will probably take me about 8 months to grow out the color.

I'm 5 weeks into the transition and am sporting an awesome skunk stripe and I'm thinking in the near future hat's will become my new best friend.

In the meantime I apologize for staring but I'm now obsessed with seeing how many women have let their hair go natural. It's kind of like when you are pregnant, you just keep seeing pregnant women everywhere you go.

And to my sisters - keep on rocking your gray/white/salt'n pepper hair!

Saturday Satisfaction

2010-07-03T16:15:00.000-07:00

I'm reporting back to let you know my Saturday has been going really good.

Here's my list I put together on Friday night. It's not in any particular order (except for the first item)

Sleep in - spent one week on vacation waking up at 9 a.m. then back to getting up at 5:45 a.m., on Saturday I'll find a compromise. - woke at 8:00 a.m.
Deep clean the bathroom - need I repeat that I've been gone the last two weekends? - it's sparkly and smells good
Vacuum - ditto the above
Sew - working on a lap quilt, table runner and some other items, plus a backlog of quilt tops that need finished, not to mention just yesterday I ordered some Christmas fabric. - still have the rest of the weekend
Saturday market - this one is dependant on somewhat decent weather, looking to see what local produce is out there. - so much fun, glad to see so many people there. Saw a black poodle in a dress and a 12 year old boy playing his clarinet with a basket for money! And the funniest thing happened. I was sitting on a bench munching on peas. Wally was waiting for the bathroom. On the side of the building was two garden hoses. Well Wally perfectly stepped on one of them that was laying on the handle and a big shot of water sprayed straight up in the air, we think it missed the guy sitting on the other bench.

My 5.00 flowers

Maybe Carpinito Brothers, depends on what I find at Saturday market. - Washington berries from Carpinitos!

Petco for a new dog bed. Did you know they make orthopedic beds for older dogs? - 10.00 less at Wal-mart and she approves.

This is Missy, she is 11 years old.

Walk James Hill, it's been a very long time. - the hill is still there and if you don't do it very often the uphill climb totally kills your calves, 45 min round trip.
Buy a few See's Chocolates and savor them (have a gift card from Mother's Day that isn't used up yet). - yuummm! (still have 2.00 left on my gift card)

Saturday Intentions on a Friday Night

2010-07-02T20:15:00.000-07:00

Friday night means two things at my house, 1) husband will be watching Friday Night Smackdown and 2) I'll be on the computer.
I was out of town the last two Saturdays so I have quite a few things I'm hoping to accomplish tomorrow.

Here's my list in no particular order (except for the first item)

Sleep in - spent one week on vacation waking up at 9 a.m. then back to getting up at 5:45 a.m., on Saturday I'll find a compromise.
Deep clean the bathroom - need I repeat that I've been gone the last two weekends?
Vacuum - ditto the above.
Sew - working on a lap quilt, table runner and some other items, plus a backlog of quilt tops that need finished, not to mention just yesterday I ordered some Christmas fabric.
Saturday market - this one is dependant on somewhat decent weather, looking to see what local produce is out there.
Maybe Carpinito Brothers, depends on what I find at Saturday market.
Petco for a new dog bed. Did you know they make orthopedic beds for older dogs?
Walk James Hill, it's been a very long time.
Buy a few See's Chocolates and savor them (have a gift card from Mother's Day that isn't used up yet).

Missing from the list is laundry and grocery shopping. Both were just done on Tuesday. Not much laundry so no big deal and groceries can wait until Monday.

Monday - ahhh, a holiday. That means anything I don't get done on Saturday I still have Monday. Did I mention I'm in the top 10 of the master list of procrastinators? There's something that I do well.

Here's a beautiful photo for your enjoyment of my favorite vacation spot. Henry's Lake in Island Park, Idaho.

My Stalker

2010-06-17T22:13:00.001-07:00

I just want to say that sometimes this little guy is just too close for comfort. Yes, I am guilty of feeding him seeds and peanuts, perhaps it's love.

He actually hears me unlocking the front door and runs to the step. I have to open the door a tiny bit to peek out and make sure I can step outside without any critters getting inside.

But it makes the day interesting.

Are We There Yet?

2010-06-16T07:26:00.000-07:00

I've started to notice this week as I am working full time and also getting prepared to go away on vacation, that lists and piles are popping up around the house. It just caught me this morning as being kind of funny.

There is the grocery list of what to buy before we leave home, and another grocery list of what to buy when we are closer to our destination so the head of lettuce may avoid spending 14 hours in the back of the truck. I know it will thank me later for that.

There is the pile of sewing supplies, the pile of things to give to my sister to take to my daughter, and one odd sized item that will be wrapped in Christmas paper (I'm sure it will get wrapped any day now) and delivered early to avoid trying to mail it.

Then there is the pile of canned goods and baking supplies and the photocopies of recipes. I know that after taking the same recipes to the cabin every year, they are probably still there, but what if they aren't? Do I really want to chance it trying to make cornflake coconut macaroons from memory? I think not.

Then there are the shoes that are not piled up yet. I was hoping my old shoes could last just this one more week, but alas, the hole in the little toe expanded. Just maybe I'll still wear them anyway.

And then the pile with the camera, the camera battery charger, the cell phone charger, headset and do I or do I not want to take my iPod? I'm thinking not. It's the great outdoors after all and I don't want to be walking on the dirt road wearing my iPod and not hear the cows or moose sneaking up behind me.

I thank my Dad for the list making gene that I inherited from him. I push my limit by trying to keep some lists in my head, but it's that little lined note pad that will save you every time.

Happy Summer Vacationing to All - I will note it's still raining in Seattle.

But we'll be soon calling it summer anyway.

Letter to My 20-Something Self

2010-06-11T21:18:00.000-07:00

I found this blog today and loved reading the letters to "My 20-Something Self". What a great idea. It really makes you stop and do some thinking. I need to preface my letter by saying that I hit my 20s in the late '70s.

Dear 20-year old Tr,

First of all, have a sense of humor when Gail tells you what Tr, the nickname her older brother gave you when you were in Jr. High, stands for. Enjoy the disco music, the clothes, the shoes, the people, for believe it or not, it won't last forever. Someday you might even wish you had kept a pair of those shoes, or those black satin pants you wear dancing.

I'm sorry about Elvis. I know it was difficult when you realized you would never marry him when you grew up and now he's gone. But his music and his movies will live on forever.

Those work out clothes you wear to aerobics, don't wear them in public. And be patient cause they really are just a fad and they will get better. And keep exercising, always. It's important, trust me on this one.

Take time to talk with Mom and Dad and learn things about them when they were growing up. There will come a time when you will really, really want to talk to them and they just aren't there anymore.

Stay close to your siblings, know what is going on with them. Be a good friend. Don't be so self-absorbed. Expand your life. Be open to new opportunities even if they scare you.

Find your own style, stand up for the things you believe in. When you have babies, don't regret all the things you are unable to do at that time, but instead enjoy each moment with them, for they grow up so quickly.

Remember we go through "seasons" in our lives and in each season you will discover new things about yourself and you will find time to do the things that matter most to you.

I know right now you feel like your future is uncertain and at times you feel young and irresponsible, but you will find your footing and you will find your place. Things might not turn out exactly how you expect them to, but just go with it. You'll come out alright.

Just like Mom and Dad are always telling you, "I just want you to be happy". Find what makes you happy.

Love,
Much-older-Trudy

The Results Are In

2010-05-31T16:44:00.001-07:00

I have successfully completed six weeks of going to the gym five days a week. The loss isn't great, but I'll take it, because it's so much more than just numbers. And I will continue going five days a week for as long as my work schedule permits it.

The routine:
Mon/Wed/Fri - warm up either on the treadmill or elliptical for about 1 mile / 14-15 minutes, then weight machines, started with 6 machines now doing 9 each time. Then floor work, plank, crunches, push ups and stretches. Worked out once with a trainer in the six weeks.

Tue/Thur - minimum 2 miles on the treadmill, depending on how much time I have, then floor work, same as the other days.

When I have an extra 5 or 10 minutes, I'll slip into the sauna. I love the sauna, that is my meditation time.

The results:
30 work outs (1 was outdoor walking but I quickly realized I wouldn't be able to continue that with our crazy weather)
About 1,000 crunches on the ball
About 180 push ups (girly knee push ups, went from being able to do about 4 to now doing 2 sets of 10)
About 40 miles (treadmill/elliptical)
Lots of weight lifted

Pounds lost: 6.6
Inches lost: 4.5

Here is a recap of the six weeks:
Week 1: waking up one hour earlier than normal, really hard to get out of bed in the morning. Very tired at night. Tried to go to bed 30 minutes early. Feeling the muscles, especially the calves. Feel weird after work thinking I should be going to the gym, but then remembering I already went.

Week 2: still tough to get out of bed, thoughts of skipping a day, but knowing one skipped day leads to 2, so I did not skip. Still feeling the muscles.

Week 3: not so tired in the evenings, more energy, feeling better around the middle. They say if you do something for 3 weeks, it then becomes a habit. (or was that 4 weeks? either way it's now a habit.)

Week 4: love going into the sauna in my work out clothes, started taking a book to read on the treadmill, seeing the same morning group of exercisers. Looking forward to going every day, some times get to bed early.

Week 5: in a routine, don't want to skip it, wish I could spend more time at the gym, but have to get home to work.

Week 6: loving it still, occasionally take my bathing suit for the hot tub, steam room and sauna, that's a treat.

Here is my personal opinion of sauna room etiquette: please don't talk on your cell phone and keep the volume of your iPod to yourself. And Please don't whistle, sing or beat your chest to your music! I can handle the guy on the floor doing stretches and sit ups, but that's pushing it.

Advice if you are thinking about starting an exercise program, just jump right in and DO IT!

Seattle in May

2010-05-06T20:12:00.000-07:00

Such a beautiful day we had today, especially after the days of wind and rain. Here are some pictures from the Seattle Temple grounds in Bellevue.

I've always thought Seattle area was really pretty in May.

Sock Drawer Saga

2010-04-23T19:53:00.000-07:00

The eBay auction for the contents of my sock drawer just ended. I had it open for only 5 days and had 72 views and 2 people bidding. I started the bidding at 2.50. The winning bidder bid 5.00 at the end of the auction.

I will be shipping the socks to a person in Pennsylvania. Hope they enjoy them!

Family, Food and A Whole Lot of Fun (Part 3)

2010-04-18T19:56:00.000-07:00

Part 3, really? Isn't she over that trip yet? Just entertain me while I finish telling of my last night and last day in Salt Lake City.

So Sunday night after dinner, we (being Scott, Natalie and I) played Rock Band. Now I've played Guitar Hero and American Idol before but never Rock Band. I don't know how long we played, but it was a long time.

I was like, okay, one more song, just one more song, now I want to sing, can I play the drums again, okay, I'll try the guitar, can I sing again? May I say Natalie and Scott were very patient with the newbie, (either that or they were secretly video taping my musical inabilities)!

Well after Rock Band they showed me Wii resort, looks like that could be a lot of fun - that is after you practice with no one watching for about 2 weeks!

Sunday night I successfully got all my extra Kohl's shopping into my suitcase and bags. Monday was my last sleep in morning.

Natalie, Scott and I had breakfast in West Jordan at Red Rooster Waffle Company. I had seen chicken and waffles on television so I was excited to try them. They were absolutely delicious. The chicken has an amazing seasoning on it and one little bone in the piece. The waffle comes with orange butter and maple syrup. Put that all together and you've got some really good food.

Side of potatoes.

No problem finishing the food. Natalie had a 2 for 1 coupon, so for the three of us we ordered two originals plus a side of potatoes, total bill - just under 13.00.

After breakfast we took Scott home. I don't think I can remember all the places Natalie and I went to in a few hours. I know we went to the new Kohl's at Brickyard. I used to work at Ernst in the Brickyard behind Harmons and I remember when the shops were built, when Mervyn's was there.

We visited my friend Gloria and her husband and were entertained by her two grand-daughters in their little dress up tutu's, they were very cute.

On Monday we visited a new quilt shop, Sonic drive-in for limeades and a store that sells bundt cakes. At Nothing Bundt Cakes I had a sample of a turtle cake and we bought a small marble bundt cake to take home. They are incredibly moist and have cream cheese icing on them. We took it home and shared it with Scott, delicious.

Natalie and I spent some time playing with her sewing machine. She sewed fabric onto kitchen towels, very cute.

Then it was off to the airport. My plane was delayed by 40 minutes. That gave me plenty of time for TCBY frozen yogurt and a bowl of soup from Quiznos. I was home by about 8:30 that night.

It was a wonderful trip to Utah. Next year I'll try my best to visit more of my friends that live there. And one of these years I'll make it to the tulip festival at Thanksgiving Point

A Crazy Idea

2010-04-18T19:47:00.000-07:00

While I was on vacation at my sister's house I came up with this crazy idea to sell the contents of my sock drawer on eBay. Well I just posted it. First I went through all the socks and put the yucky ones in the donation bag for the thrift store, then made a pile of what to keep.

There are 29 matching pairs of socks. We'll see what happens.

(P.S. Please don't be offended if you see anything familiar in there, like you might have given them to me! We all move on eventually.)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110521745668

Pioneer Woman Book Signing in Seattle

2010-04-17T21:49:00.000-07:00

Today was Ree Drummond's (AKA Pioneer Woman) book signing at Third Place Books in Shoreline. I knew nothing about it until a couple of weeks ago when Natalie told me she was coming to Seattle. Luckily Melissa lives near the book store so on Easter Sunday I gave her my cookbook and she was able to go to the bookstore and get me a ticket for group B.This was my very first book signing, so it was very exciting. I left home about 3:30 to go 36 miles north. Halfway there a huge rainstorm started up, the kind where your wipers just don't move fast enough.

I swung by Melissa's to pick up my book and ticket, then off to the bookstore. The signing was to begin at 5:00 p.m. About 5:05 they announced she was running late due to traffic. I was hanging around on one side of the book store when she walks in with her mother-in-law, her daughter and another woman. She was standing about 3 feet away from me.

She is quite striking with her long red hair. She is very slender and wore jeans and a frilly top.

They called the A group to line up and I stayed nearby with the other ladies. Then they called the B group and we lined up. I think they had given tickets out up to group I and someone said there were 50 people per group.

We waited patiently in line as we progessed through the store up to the signing table. They came around and gave us post-it notes with our name on them so she could quickly write our names in the books.

As I got close to the table one person took my books and someone else took my camera. Before I knew it I was standing next to Ree as she sat at the table. I had a picture of Natalie and me and started babbling about how Natalie had gone to her book signing in Salt Lake but it was so crazy that she didn't get to meet her.

My picture was snapped, my books were signed and I was on my way. As I was leaving the building I saw her mother-in-law casually sitting at a table visiting with people in the food court and her daughter lined up to get something to drink.

It was a wonderful experience. She is very pleasant. And that was my first experience at a book signing.

Quick Story

2010-04-16T20:59:00.000-07:00

Friday Night Smackdown is almost over and then it's my turn to watch TV, so I'll write this quickly. While in Utah we found one box in my sister's basement of papers and photos from my parent's home. We read letters our children had sent to their grandparents, letters from my Dad to his family when he was a newlywed in the 1940's, letters from his siblings, letters my maternal grandfather wrote, all sorts of treasures. We haven't read all of them yet, but the ones we did read were like reading a journal of the past. Great fun.

In the box was a full size page from the Idaho Falls newspaper from 1965 (I think that was the year). It was a photo spread of the New Year's baby born that January and the pictures were taken a few months later as they followed him through his morning routine.

It had his name and pictures with his mother, all sorts of cute baby photos. I'm not sure if my parents knew the family or they just saved the newspaper cause they thought it was cute.

Well I love doing detective work and over the years have returned a few birth announcements to people. So I took the clipping and my daughter and I started by looking up his name in the city he was born and there he was, (Dexonline, thank you very much). He had the same middle name as his Dad's first name.

So this week I typed him up a note and put the newspaper clipping in the mail. I wrote in the note that I was going to call him on the phone and tell him I had some naked photos of him, but I thought that might not be the best approach.

He should receive it in the mail tomorrow. I included my email so he could tell me he received it and that he was the right person. We can assume his parents kept copies of the newspaper page, but still wouldn't it be fun to get it in the mail all these years later from a total stranger?

One time I returned a birth announcement to someone in Oregon that said, "we've adopted a baby". I could only hope that by now being in his 50's he knew he was adopted and he didn't have to learn it from me! Well that one did turn out okay.

Here is an excerpt from an email I received from someone after sending them their birth announcement:

Dear Trudy,
Just now I checked our mail and discovered an envelope from someone I didn't recognize. So with surprise and wonder I opened it to find my birth announcement. How special! Thank you so much for going to all the trouble to send it to me! It is in such good condition after nearly 60 years. That's amazing.
Thank you so much for the effort you made. We now have 9 grandchildren of our own and so to receive a different birth announcement is very special. May God bless you

I'll let you know if I hear back from the New Year's Day baby.

Family, Food and A Whole Lot of Fun (Part 2)

2010-04-15T21:40:00.000-07:00

Oh yes, there is more to the story. I forgot about the second shopping trip to Kohl's where I scored two Chaps sweaters for 5.00 and 6.00 plus an additional 15% off. The added bonus was a Red Lobster in the same parking lot so we got to have lunch. Wally won't go to Red Lobster with me so I haven't been there in years. It was good. (They don't have buttermilk salad dressing if anyone is wondering.)
While we were in Utah my sister's donkey had a baby and her husband sent her a photo on her phone. Here's a photo she posted when she got home. How cute is this little guy? I mentioned earlier that we slept on air mattresses on the floor. Well there is a tradition each year that Becky's air mattress goes flat during the night, it did it again. How she picks the leaky one each year I'll never know, but I appreciate it. There was a replacement so all was well.

So one night Nancy comes and sits in the living room while we are sleeping and Becky either talking in her sleep or maybe awake says to her, "do you need any help, do you know we have a baby donkey?" and then went back to sleep.

Another night I was woken up when I felt Sue laying on my legs. She had gotten up from the couch and tripped and landed on my airmattress. I was so tired I barely woke up and didn't remember anything about it until the afternoon of the next day when she mentioned it.

I'm too old for staying up until 2:00 a.m. on consecutive nights! But we all survived it by staying in our pj's on Saturday until noon!

Sunday morning I made Abby's Green Chilie Breakfast casserole, it was delicious (I'll post the recipe later). Natalie picked us up and by 9:30 we were heading north to the airport.

We dropped Sue and Becky off and then went to Natalie's house where we mixed up some bread dough. Then we went to lunch to an amazing Mexican restaurant. It's called Red Iguana and I just have to tell you what we ordered. I ordered a cup of posole which was very good, they served it with shredded lettuce instead of cabbage, not sure why.

Here are the other items ordered and split between the three of us.

ENCHILADAS POTOSINAS (4)
An empanada-style enchilada made of corn masa, filled with queso ranchero, green onions and
crushed red chile, grilled, fried, topped with melted jack cheese and sprinkled with green onions.

TACOS DON RAMON
Three crisp corn tacos filled with tender top sirloin tips, grilled with pork chorizo, garnished with
shredded lettuce and queso cotija, served with pico de gallo and a salsa de aguacate.

ENCHILADAS SUIZAS (2)
Avocado slices and sour cream chicken topped with mole poblano and melted jack cheese. One of
our more popular dishes.

Wow, I'm salivating just remembering how good it was.

Anyway, Sunday night we had pasta and home made bread. We weren't really very hungry after that lunch. Also in the afternoon we baked Ranger Cookies. If you've ever wondered if baking soda goes bad the answer is YES! We had yummy flat cookies.

Coming up in Part 3 - Chicken & Waffles and Bundt Cakes

Family, Food and A Whole Lot of Fun!

2010-04-14T21:35:00.000-07:00

Last week I had the adventure of traveling to Utah where I spent time with my daughter and her husband, my three sisters, my nephew, nieces and a cousin.

I arrived on Tuesday just as a winter storm was on it's way out, we had wind and hail. I spent the afternoon with my friend Chris and her husband in the SLC temple. Wonderful experience we shared there.
Natalie, Scott and I had Thai food for dinner then picked up some groceries and headed to their home for the night.

Wednesday morning we hit the gym before the donut shop, yep you heard me right. For those of you who know me, that is no surprise. It's just convenient that my daughter bought a house behind Dunford Donuts.

We had time to make Corn Flake Coconut Macaroons to take to Nancy.

Then there was a little Kohl's shopping before picking Becky and Sue up at the airport. From the airport it was lunch at Gourmandise, with baklava to go. After lunch a trip to Hatch Family Chocolates as featured on TLC's "Little Chocolatiers". I did not know that they also sold ice cream, maybe next time. I bought milk chocolate caramels, they were delicious.
From the chocolate shop we made our way south, first stopping at my most favorite quilt shop. It's located in Sandy, Utah and is so big they have a second smaller shop across the street. It's called Quilt Quilt Quilt Etc. - 11 Main St. Sandy, UT 84070.

From there we visited Tai Pan Trading where we had great fun looking at all the pretty, shining objects and did spend a little money.

Then it was on to Utah county to meet up with Nancy, Emily and cousin Russell at Pirate Island Pizza in Orem. The pizza was okay, not spectacular, but the "Aargh"cade was a whole lot of fun. We spent 20.00 for 100 tokens and between 7 of us in the end we had 320 coupons which we gave to the cutest little boy about 4 or 5 years old to redeem for prizes.

Here we are in the pirates cove.

Middle picture: Becky, Natalie, Trudy, Emily, Sue and Nancy

Next picture: ditto plus Russell (taken with camera sitting on a light post with the timer!)

After dinner Natalie dropped us off in Springville where we would spend the next four nights.

Here is the list of video's we watched:

Julie and Julia

27 Dresses

Confessions of a Shopaholic

All About Steve

The Proposal

Definitely chick flicks, but oh so fun.

Two of us slept on air mattresses on the floor and one on the couch.

We visited two more quilt shops:

Corn Wagon Quilts in Springville and

Gracie Lou's Quilts in Salem

Dinners at home we ate:

Emily's vegetable lasagna with homemade bread

Chicken, blue cheese chopped salad with homemade bread

Russian chicken, Parmesan chicken with asparagus and you guessed it, homemade bread. If you're wondering about the bread see my food blog. I was teaching Emily how to make it and there were no complaints about having hot homemade bread every night.

We also ate ice cream, Popsicles, cheesecake, sticky buns, Popsicles and Abby's green chili breakfast casserole. We did not starve.

We cleaned, we scrubbed, we organized, we did laundry, we vacuumed, but I think we forgot to dust, there's always next year. We had a lot of fun hanging out.

On Saturday we picked my niece Lillie up from her college apartment to hang out and have dinner with us. Lillie and I both have September birthdays just one day apart (and some years too).

And this only takes us to Saturday night. There are still more pictures to show and tales to tell. But they will wait another day.

SEA to MSP to DCA and Back

2010-03-13T08:08:00.000-08:00

This last week I had a quick trip to Arlington, Virginia for a work meeting. In order to get a lower airfare I opted to change flights in Minneapolis. I figured if I was going to fly through there I would give myself some layover time so I could go visit the Mall of America.

I did just that.

On Friday afternoon I arrived at the Minneapolis airport around 4:30 p.m. My flight home to Seattle would leave at 7:20 p.m. I had done my research ahead of time and knew that the airport had lockers where I could leave my extra carry on bags and I knew where to catch the light rail train that would have me to the Mall in 12 minutes.

I arrived at Concourse G and took a locker in Concourse F, where my 7:20 flight was scheduled to leave from. I timed how long it took me to walk the length of one side of this very large airport to get to the train.

I paid 4.00 for my locker and 2.25 for each trip on the train. I arrived at the mall and walked around, visited a few shops, but was mostly amazed at the amusement rides inside the mall. It's a very large mall. The booklet says there are over 500 shops and if you were to go inside every single store for only 10 minutes it would take you 86 hours!

Needless to say I really only had about less than 1 1/2 hours to have a quick look.

The Nestle Toll House cookie was good, but I don't think it was as good as Mrs. Field's chocolate chip cookies.

I did some fun souvenir shopping, had a great time at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company gift store. And in another post, I'll tell you more about the airport experience.

Enjoy a few pictures:

Los Lonely Boys

2010-02-26T22:01:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday night we redeemed a Christmas gift that we waited two months for. My kids gave us tickets to see Los Lonely Boys at the Moore Theatre in downtown Seattle.

We ate a light early dinner at home and then drove to Seattle. At 6 pm it was just getting dark, light traffic and no rain. That's what makes for a nice commute to Seattle.

We found a parking lot right on the corner. We were early so we walked around the block and then went into the theatre.

The opening act was a women named Carrie Rodriguez. She sang and played the guitar and fiddle. With her was a guy who sang back-up and also played the guitar. I'm not quite sure how to describe her music. She plays the instruments extremely well and has a great voice.

Then we were surprised with a second opening act. Evidently people knew this guy and that he was performing, because four people behind us actually left when he finished.

His name was Alejandro Escovedo. It was him playing guitar, another guy on guitar and Carrie Rodriguez on her fiddle. It was pretty good.

The concert started just after 7 pm and it was about 10 to 9:00 before Los Lonely Boys took the stage. They were very good. They played till almost 10:30.

It was a very fun evening. The music was loud at times, as were two people sitting near us. They talked loudly to their wives while the musicians were talking to the audience. And they would just yell out during the music. Odd or drunk? Not sure which.

A Little Touch of Springtime

2010-02-17T21:51:00.001-08:00

About a month ago I bought this little herb kit.

It was in the
"leftover Christmas gifts" section at Home Depot. It came with everything you see here plus I have lots more seeds.

In it is planted Parsley, Chives, Cilantro and Oregano. Most of the time they sit in my kitchen window. It's been fun watching them grow.

Along side them I have Basil and Sweet Peas also started.

You might say I'm looking forward to Springtime!

A Saucy Tale

2010-02-15T22:09:00.000-08:00

True story.

It begins on Saturday afternoon. I bring home pear sauce from the grocery store, not apple sauce but pear sauce. I say to the husband, "look at this, they have pear sauce, I'll put it in this cupboard over here so you won't mix it up with the applesauce."

Keep in mind these are those little cup size plastic containers. We always have applesauce cups in the cupboard and the pear sauce looks a lot like the applesauce.

He says, "You don't need to put them over there, just put them with the applesauce, I can tell the difference." (Note: husband has vision problems, can't read small writing on cups.)

I say, "No I'll put them over here." And I do, mainly because I know what would happen if I mixed them with the applesauce.

Forward to Sunday afternoon. I come home from church and the husband says to me, "this pear sauce doesn't taste like the applesauce at all. It's very different."

(Pause for a moment as I think to myself, yes it should taste different.)

I say, "well it would taste different, it's pear not apple." And he insists it tastes very different from applesauce and not much like pears.

So then I ask the magic question, "which cupboard did you get it from?"

As he showed me which cupboard it came from - the answer was the cupboard that contained only the applesauce. So at this point the pear sauce has not been tasted and the applesauce doesn't taste like applesauce!

What's a wife to do?

So I once again, very patiently explain that the pear sauce is over here in this other cupboard and yes, you really did eat applesauce, thus it would not taste like pears, however it should have tasted like applesauce.

To solve the mystery, I checked the applesauce label to discover that the last applesauce I bought was the one with cinnamon in it. Okay, so I can go with that and understand why the applesauce did not taste "like it normally would". But it was still applesauce!

Tick Tock - About a Clock

2010-01-27T22:03:00.001-08:00

Actually this is about two clocks. I doubt I'm the only person that has two alarm clocks. However,I don't have two for the reason you think I would, which would be to help me get out of bed in the morning.

I have two because 1) they were both free (gifts I selected from work awards) and 2) the first one wasn't my favorite so I tried the second one.

The first one is an iPod docking station, which is great for charging as well as listening to your iPod. The second one selected sometime later (probably a year or two) is one that projects the time on the ceiling (or wall) in red light. It's really cool to wake up in the middle of the night and without moving a muscle I can see how many more hours I can sleep.

However, one of the issues I have with both clocks is that the light on them, even dimmed is too bright on my night stand. So the cool projector clock has a night eye mask covering the face of it and the iPod clock is the one I use for my alarm, but I don't go to sleep listening to music, because when the timer is up and the music stops the light turns on. What's up with that?

I don't mind a night light, but a bright light on my nightstand that I can see through my eyelids is a little much. My car dash has a wonderful dimmer switch so that I can light up the dash as if I was flying a 747 or dim it while I listen to smooth jazz on the radio on my way home. So why can't my radio alarm clocks be that way?

And how is it that if I listen to music the night before, that the next morning when the radio comes on to wake me, the volume is four times what it was the night before? I can't figure that one out.

The most confusing thing now is that the clock I use for the alarm gains about 10 minutes every six weeks. So I end up getting up earlier than necessary. And it's a pain to set the time but eventually I have to do it.

The projector clock has some sort of high tech gizmo so that it always has the correct time, except for when it changes itself to a different time zone which has happened more than once. Makes it hard to figure out what time to set the alarm that is 10 minutes fast with the clock that is one hour ahead.

Well enough about that, I'm off to bed, just hope I don't oversleep in the morning!

A Clown, a Funeral and Balloon Animals

2010-01-23T17:07:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe I can actually use those three nouns in the same title. But believe it or not, I attended a funeral yesterday in Kennewick and a clown (not in full make-up, but wearing red sneakers) did make balloon animals right before the funeral started. I can now cross that off my list of things to see in my lifetime!

My sister's father-in-law passed away peacefully in his sleep at home, weeks before his 92nd birthday. He was a Shriner's clown for many, many years. And so at his funeral they wanted it to be special and fun. One of the clowns that he had mentored over the years did a couple of balloon animals before the funeral started and told how Lloyd would make the balloon animals while talking to the children. It was very cute.

My husband and I have had the pleasure of knowing Lloyd for the last 3 years as he lived with my sister and her husband. He would join us for our family reunions in the summertime and I think he especially liked me, cause I would always make sure he had dessert and any other sweet treats we had made during the day.

He was a character to be around and loved to tell stories. Well you can imagine being 91 years old you would have a lot of stories to tell. His wife had passed away about 8 years ago and they had been married for over 60 years.

(Photo of Lloyd Berg taken in June 2008 by Becky Shull)

Post # 100

2010-01-03T21:59:00.000-08:00

Just thought that was cool to find out this is my 100th post.

Anyway just wanted to check in with the New Year.

On Friday we picked up our grand-daughter Gisele for an overnighter. After burgers for dinner, we came home and played Life. Been a long time since I played that game.

Then Saturday morning it was waffles and scrambled eggs for breakfast. We haven't had a real Saturday morning breakfast for a long time, so it was a lot of fun. That would be waffles with blueberries or mini choco chips plus sliced bananas, strawberries and cool whip on top.

At the breakfast table I reminded Wally that every single thing he said would be repeated when Gisele got home. So later while we were driving in the car she mentioned the number of times he swore that day!

There was a Full House marathon on TV in the morning. Gotta love the hair back then and John Stamos when he was young, crazy!

We went bowling, Wayne came with and Wally watched. I didn't do all that great, bowled a 114 and an 82. Wayne beat me both games, but it was a lot of fun.

Mexican food for lunch, came home. Then ran some errands around SouthCenter, the traffic was a mess around there on a Saturday afternoon. Then we met up with Melissa and Tim to drop Gisele off. While standing in the parking lot Gisele runs down a quick list of everything we did and every thing she ate, it was funny!

Then home for dinner.

Today after church I baked some cracked wheat bread, it turned out really good. You can read an earlier post which references the bread books I've been enjoying.

Today after church I went in the backyard with the dog and peeked at the garden that has mostly been emptied out and has some pots of dirt dumped into it, and I picked two carrots, what a nice surprise!

I decided at the last minute this evening to get my home office cleaned up. I did pretty good in a few short hours. There are three stacks of magazines and papers on the kitchen table for sorting later. Not too mention a box and stack of fabric that got moved into the garage so we could use the futon for company.

I need to organize my sewing projects so I can get some more sewing done.

Happy New Year to you all!

Here's wishing this brings us all good health, love and happiness in the New Year.

Why I Like the Month of January

2009-12-29T17:48:00.000-08:00

First of all . . . . . . . . .
hit the pause button . . . . . . . . . , hear that? It's quiet.
Admit it, there are a lot of "additional" wonderful things we do
in the month of December
in order to make Christmas special and
to get the most out of the holidays.
But once January comes around, things move at just
a little bit slower pace.
The tree is down, the decoration boxes are put away.
The furniture is back to normal. This process also involves
dusting and vacuuming, so the house is clean too!
I'll still be enjoying my Christmas gifts
and
experimenting with my new cookbooks.
The weather will be cold and I'll want
to stay indoors with the family where it's warm and cozy.
I'll have time to read a book,
watch a movie,
sew something.
And January is a great time for project cleaning.
Project cleaning is when you tackle
one project at a time,
like the hall closet,
a shelf in the sewing room,
a box in the garage, the top shelf in my closet.
Just one thing at a time.

Yes, you might say, "well you don't have young children,
that need cared for and taken to various activities."
And to that I will say to you, "enjoy them while they are young and make them your priority, your time will come soon enough when you can enjoy this quiet I call January".
And that is why I like January.

The Year is Winding Down

2009-12-27T20:40:00.001-08:00

I have to say we had a great Christmas. Complete with lots of fun gifts, good food and hanging out with family. I'm on vacation until January 4th, so I'm planning on enjoying each day of it.

I got cook books for Christmas and I've been having fun reading through them. I received Pioneer Women's cookbook; http://thepioneerwoman.com/my_cookbook/

and the two Artisan Bread in Five Minutes cookbooks; http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/

Today we had homemade bread for dinner and I was surprised how good it turned out. You make the yeast dough and let it rise then put it in the fridge (up to 14 days). When you want to cook bread you take out a chunk of dough, shape it, let it rest, then bake it. I'll put some pictures up later on my food blog.

December, where have thee gone?

2009-12-23T09:21:00.000-08:00

I was shocked to look at my blog and see that I haven't posted since November. But that just shows you what the month of December does to any normal routine. It throws it all into a new state of non stop activity and general constant busyness.

But it's all been good.

There has been;
Two church Christmas parties
One Messiah program
One grand daughter dance recital
One visit with out of town relatives
Two trips to the Post Office
One trip to UPS
Four sewing projects to finish
Multiple trips to the store
Tons of wrapping gifts
Oh and did I mention - plus working 40 hours a week on my job.

It is now December 23rd, the tree is up and decorated, the presents are all wrapped, the candy making is all done (and mostly gone), the coworker gifts have been exchanged. This is the last work day until January 2010.

Tonight we get to step away from Christmas and celebrate Gisele's 9th birthday.

Tomorrow it's grocery shopping, laundry and housecleaning but at a much slower pace.

Happy Holidays to all!

Confession

2009-11-27T20:02:00.000-08:00

I’ll warn you right up front, this could be a long post. I have spent many months pondering this and I think I have finally figured it out.

I suffer from blog envy. There I said it. I didn’t want to believe it was true. But I’m envious that all this technology didn’t exist when I was younger and raising my children.

After high school I ended up living out of state from my parents and most of my siblings. I raised my kids in the era of long distance phone calls, letters from home and occasional visits from Mom and Dad.

Fortunately, by the time I had children my parents were retired. So they enjoyed traveling and we did see them quite a bit during the year. But they had to wait for pictures in the mail to see how the kids were growing and to share in our milestones via long distance phone calls.

If I was a young parent today I would have a blog and my family that all live out of state could watch my children grow up. They would see them at their birthday parties, in their Halloween costumes, playing in the snow, visiting the zoo, you get the idea.

But alas, my children are grown up. I stay in touch with them and my siblings via various sources on the Internet and I’m grateful for that. And also grateful that phone calls don’t have long distance charges anymore.

So where does that leave me in the blogging world? Well, I have decided that I do fit in and have a purpose here. As a middle aged fairly average woman, I have a lot in common with many of you out there.

I work full-time, am in my second marriage, and face many of the same challenges that you do. I have the experience of raising my children, learning to set up a home, learning to shop and cook for a family.

I have hobbies, interests and activities that make me happy. However, I have a struggle fitting them into my schedule, just as you probably do also.

I will continue to blog because that is one of the activities that make me happy. And perhaps I might make you laugh, or sometimes I might make you cry. Or you just might discover something new here. You might get it or you might not. But either way I’ll be here.

T-Day

2009-11-26T19:05:00.000-08:00

We had a nice Thanksgiving Day. Spoke with my four siblings on the phone and my daughter. Also Wally's girls in California. It was fun to hear how everyone would be spending their day and who they would be visiting.

The kitchen is cleaned up and we are relaxing, that is until Wally just came and said "if we're going to have something for dinner, we shouldn't eat it too late!" Well, back to the kitchen.....

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-25T19:20:00.000-08:00

It will be a very quiet Thanksgiving Day at our house. Family is spread out this year so it will just be the three of us. However it still calls for the full turkey spread. Gotta have those leftovers. Since it's a four day weekend, I consider that I shouldn't have to do much more cooking after Thursday.

This Thanksgiving I am so thankful for my family. Thankful for my husband and between us our four children, two son-in-laws and one grand-daughter. And of course our siblings and their families. I frequently ponder the relationships I have with each of my siblings as we get older. Which ones do I have more in common with? How often do we see each other or talk on the phone? Luckily we have all this modern technology so the Internet keeps us somewhat connected. I don't say it often enough but I love each one of you.

It's also fun to stay in touch with extended family that I don't see too often. I like knowing what is going on in your lives. I cheer for you everyday.

I'm also grateful for my friends. That includes co-workers as well as my friends I have known for most of my life. There are those of you that have stayed in my life for so very many years, and for this I am grateful. There may have been times over the years when we weren't always involved in each other's life, but we have a history and because of that history you shall always be a part of my life.

I am grateful for my job and the fact that I have worked for the same company for almost 21 years.

I will remember Thanksgivings past when my Mom and Dad sat at our table with us, or my sister and her husband or most of our kids. There was even one year that my ex-husband's mother spent Thanksgiving with us.

Also at this time of year, my heart and prayers go out to my friends and family who are going through difficult times. My coworker who lost his grandmother, my Uncle who is spending his last days surrounded by his loving family and my little 8 year old nephew who is in the hospital.

To all of you I wish you health, happiness and peace. But wishing doesn't make it so, it's up to you.

Be grateful, be loving, be forgiving, be patient, be comfortable with who you are.

The Nielson family (circa. 1970s)

Crossing Items off the Yucky Things to Do List

2009-11-20T22:25:00.000-08:00

1) love new health club, enjoyed the sauna this very evening.
2) car insurance paperwork completed along with an 89.00 refund check, sweet!
3) dog got her shot today and I actually got to stay in the room this time, (long story about her fear of going to the vet, I'll save for another day.
4) successful mammogram appointment, good results came back this week.

Now on to funner lists, like Thanksgiving dinner shopping and Christmas gift lists.

The Yucky Things To Do List

2009-11-09T20:14:00.000-08:00

Years ago when my brother-in-law passed away my sister came up with the expression, "I don't like having to be the responsible adult." Although I don't like the fact she had to come up with that statement in the first place, I have nonetheless always liked it. This last week as my "to do" list started getting yucky things to do added to it, the responsible adult expression came to mind.

My list of Yucky Things To Do might not by the same as your Yucky Things To Do List. I very carefully considered each item on my Yucky Things To Do List and decided that by doing them I would ultimately benefit from them in some way. So knowing this I had to put on my responsible adult hat and take action.

Here is my Yucky Things To Do List that I am currently working on:
1. Cancel current fitness club membership; what makes this yucky - I love it there and I have been going for almost 3 years and I'm comfortable with the ladies there. Then why do I want to cancel? For 10.00 less a month I can join a larger fitness center that offers way more amenities. This item was completed today on 11/9/09. It was difficult to walk in and tell them why I was dropping them. But on the bright side - today I had my first work out with a personal trainer, followed by my all time favorite thing to do - sitting in the sauna!

2. Cancel car insurance that we have had with the same agent for the last 20 years, awkward! The reason we are doing this - to combine the auto insurance with the home owners insurance for a 50% savings on the auto insurance. Can't pass that up. Just feel bad leaving the good agent that we had. This is currently in work and will be completed by the end of the month.

3. Schedule the dog for her rabies vaccine. Reason to do this is self explanatory. The yucky part is taking the time to go to the vet, which the dog completely hates, she freaks out and they usually have to remove her into the back room without me there in order to give her the injection. It's painful for the both of us and it's just one of those dreaded yucky things to do. I have a busy week this week so will schedule the appointment for next week.

4. Have my annual mammogram. Again benefit is self explanatory. Especially since I had a cousin pass away last year after losing her battle with breast cancer and two more cousins diagnosed and going through treatment this year. Appointment is scheduled for this month and once it's done it's over for a entire year. It's not that the actual mammogram is that bad, it's just again, time away from work and other things I'd rather be doing.

What's on your Yucky Things To Do List?