Are We There Yet?

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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)

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!

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.