In the Event of an Emergency

 

 

 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

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

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

Christmas Weekend

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.