Red, White and Blue

Slug bugs, no tag backs !! Happy 4th of July everyone -- stay safe !!

This one's for you Amy !!

50 years and counting

April 18th 1959-- that's the day my parent's tied the knot--April 18th 2009, 50 years later we all got together to celebrate !! Imagine; how many of us will be able to add up multiple marriages to equal 50 years ??

The week-end started on Friday afternoon when I forgot to let my sister know that I don't park and go in and look for people at SeaTac--I pull up in front of the airline and you run out...after cruising around I don't know how many times, I did park-- so quick, I ran in, my phone rang, 'hello, I'm at baggage claim 16', me: No, you're not, I am :) we finally found each other, I cried (I do that)

long story short, 5 minutes parking at SeaTac costs you 2 dollars.

We headed down the hill to Auburn to pick up Kylie and head up to Anacortes for the week-end. We had a lot to remember, but I didn't make a list ;( We packed up the car and headed out to get gas and hit the road. *** Let me insert a comment right here... I have spring allergies, I've had them for years, but apparently this year is really bad--and suffice it to say, I was in denial...

Anyway, we got gas and headed up the road--we were on I-5 heading north towards

Seattle, and the reader board said 'accident ahead, right 2 lanes blocked', no biggie we were in the carpool lane, well, everyone was sneaking over to the carpool lane and we were slowing down and in fact stopping; which is when I realized, I forgot my clothes...I had my bag, you know, with my nightnight stuff, shower stuff, etc, but not the outfits I ironed and hung on the hangers...oh well, there was no way I was turning around.

After we got through Seattle we actually made really good time, even through Everett which is a huge bottleneck. We checked into the hotel (how many Queen's Amy :) and then headed up to the house.

I still had to frost the cupcakes, lord they turned out crappy... I tried to make these nice fluffy cupcakes with creamy butter frosting and gold (50 years) accents. Well, I think that the gold stuff I found was for fondant, the cupcakes just didn't fluff and the butter frosting, while tasty, was thin... I love to cook, baking eludes me... but the G'pa's favorite Rice Krispy treats rocked !!

Mom had made some great minstrone soup with some crusty bread, yummy -- we visited for a while, ate brownies, made plans for breakfast, and then headed back to the hotel.

Saturday dawned clear and cool and me so stuffed up, I couldn't see or speak clearly and wondering if I was going to make it to the lunch. Fortunately, when we got to Mom and Dad's for breakfast, Mom hooked me up with some homeopathics and by the time lunch came around, I was oh so very much better, heck I'd even gone shopping and bought a replacement outfit.

We had a wonderful lunch at Anthony's in Bellingham, that included Jim, Carla and Cody--Tyler, we missed you; Henry, Linina and Rowan (the Rowanator), Amy, Kylie and myself.

The most wonderful pair of guests were some very dear friends of my parents from the Bay Area. I hadn't seen them in 10 years, when they were last here for my Dad's 70th birthday. They are just delightful and I know that it meant a lot to my parents that they were able to be there.

After lunch we went to Rowan's parent's for dessert, thankfully Rowan's dad and mom ordered an amazing cake (let it be known that Rowan's dad can bake a mean a** cake :)

Everyone visited, had some cake and laughed at pictures and reminisced ... it all passed way to quickly.

My Dad gave my Mom a card (one of a few) for their anniversary, inside he had written 'the first 50 were the toughest'--

Here's to another 50-- I love you Mom and Dad.

P.S. The Rowantor's parent's are Henry and Linina :) oh, and I forgot my purse at their house ... par for the course that week-end...

Sunday we did manage to get up and have breakfast with Mom and Dad at the local bowling alley -- so much going on in 1 week-end and just not enough time--Amy I hope you can come back soon.

pretty trees

My friend Kaaren and her Family went to the other WA, DC for Spring Break--they saw everything !! Including the cherry blossoms, how cool is that !! I have pink blossoms in my yard, I don't know what they are, but they are pretty too --

Time Flies--a mundane update

So, wow a month of silence--that's so unlike me:

let's see, I slept through the night on the 13th, the whole night, didn't budge for any reason, not once, at all. So refreshing.

We got our haircut, mine is shorter, and I'm still considering going even shorter. Kylie got a bad bang trim and is of course, indignant---(Kaaren, this one's for you :)

We got a new car; the poor Jimmy, which I absolutely loved, with her gigantic 4-bike rack, was just becoming too much of a distraction... I never knew from one stop to the next if she was going to start again or she would try and stall out going 60 or so on the freeway... of course no one could figure it out... she got us around wonderfully--back to back nights to Everett when the 'Tips were in the play-off's; so many golf courses that there a probably still tee's and balls rolling around in her...and so many more great memories...Our new car is a 2006 Buick Rendezvous, like Tiger drives -- I wish the weather was a little nicer, we haven't really taken any of our own pics yet--we haven't taken a real trip yet, but we did drive around aimlessly for 6 hours the Saturday we got her--Miss Buckie-- we drove from Auburn to Tukwila, back to Kent, up to Redondo Beach (was stormy but nice), out to south Federal Way, down I-5 to Fife, back around to Puyallup, Sumner, Bonney Lake, Buckley, Enumclaw, Renton and home again... sounds like a lot, but it's not; it was raining the whole time, so we didn't stop too much..

ok, so what else, oh yes, we made the reservation for my parent's 50th Anniversary luncheon--Anthony's Homeport in Bellingham. Just waiting for pics from all the sibs to make a little collage.

oh, and yesterday I celebrated (in my head :) 10 years at my place of employment... they are so lucky to have me ;)

Our Excellent Day

It's February, I don't expect much out of the weather in the Pacific NorthWET, but today was EXCELLENT !! BEYOND EXCELLENT !!! Especially for February 21st, it should be raining...it started slow, cold and frosty; I didn't get out of the house until 11ish. Went to Lowes, they don't have anything out yet except primroses and well everyone has them (at a better price) and I have enough :) Did a little grocery shopping and thought that I would hit the sale at JoAnn's for some fabric-- my local store didn't really have much so I started home and well, those of you that know me, know that my radio is usually tuned to sports talk radio and today is no different and thank goodness cuz Jr's home !! I sat in my car in the driveway for over 1/2 an hour (maybe longer) listening to the press conference. And while I am still skeptical, I am very excited for this baseball season; and while I realize that Jr is not the second coming (get it :) I loved what he had to say. I don't believe that Jr is the great communicator, but I think that he is an honest man and I believed what he said. As a fan, we don't need to know what goes on in the club house, what matters is what goes on on the field and if Jr can bring some excitement to the field, amen :) I have to say, I haven't been this excited for baseball in Seattle in long time... right now, I can't wait !!

Ok, so I finally got out of my car and headed into the yard, and I'm so glad I did !!

The day was amazing !! I had to start painting things ;) I paint a LOT of things, it started with rocks ... I started painting the cooler, and ran out of paint, I probably should have primed it first, but oh well. Next I started in on the plants, I trimmed back almost everything; I used the trimming's as a sort mulch on some of the bigger plants. I decided if they don't come back, well, they'll be replaced !!

But one of the best parts about being outside today was watching the babies, ok so they're not really babies, but dang, they are to me!! They have only been going out for the last couple of days and they really seem to be enjoying it !! In fact, they love it so much, they are sound asleep-- Meow Mix and Toby were with us too, but they just don't like having their pics taken :) Dang, it was a glorious day, I was outside until at least 5, maybe 6, maybe later, I LOVE being in the yard !!

the other thing I noticed is how bad I need a haircut !! And not just any haircut, but eeek what I have just doesn't fit me anymore--I feel a big change in the wind--


oh and just for the record, I have been TRYING to stretch and / or exercise 5 days a week -- I swear !! Wednesday and Thursday I walked from Main Street down to Emerald Downs and back; my pedometer needs to be recalibrated, but I think it's ~ 4.5 miles... I really get into it--swinging my water bottle and making up words to the songs on my shuffle :)
i love my yard !!!

Happy Valentine's Day <3

THANK YOU KELSON AND IZZY !!

Hockey Night

Tango likes hockey as much as I do...

Buffalo loses in a shoot-out Saturday night

You can watch the Sen's Mark Fisher's game winner up above --

Blackberry war

My yard backs up to I'm not sure what, I think it's a battle between the city and the county, there's my fence, 2 plus feet of blackberry bushes and another fence, I have mounds of mole holes and miles of blackberry bushes, allllll along my fence. I have a love hate relationship with these bushes. I love that they are an amazing privacy barrier between my yard and the river...I hate that they over take my fence and yard in what seems like a matter of days in the spring and summer, BUT I do love picking the over-ripe plump berries off of the vine and baking dump cake. So while they are a nuisance, if I cut them back in a timely manner, we can all live together harmoniously.

Today, I decided to try and cut some back... now I know, I should wear long pants, but I get so dang hot, all the time, so I wore shorts, a long sleeve shirt (and a short sleeve tee for part of the time) and of course, gloves, always leather gloves when we are approaching the blackberry bushes... I thought that I had a pair of shears with long blades, but for the life of me, I can't find them. So, I went to work with the little choppers and my hand clippers. I clipped, pulled, swore, chopped, and pulled some more. I'm only 3/4's of the way done... my legs are a mess (as I pretty much knew that they would be, my bad, I know--) My yard waste container is almost full to the rim--I had to rake the front lawn again--if the weather holds (snow ??) I'll cut some of the bigger vines up more and shove them in the container.

After I lost all patience with the blackberry wars and raked, I checked all of my containers... I have a lot of work to do. I can NOT wait for the final frost -- I have daylillies to split, bushes to move into containers, containers to empty into the yard, so much fun stuff !!

Just not that into it

I haven't been to the movies since I took Kylie to see Snow Day--I just don't go to the movies. This week though, some of the girls were going to see He's Just Not That into You. Having read bits and pieces of the book(s), I thought that it might be kind of cute, with quips and sort of quirky. Before the movie we all met up at Duke's Chowder House where we bumped sugars (heehee) with Raspberry Lemondrops. They were delish. We headed up over to the theatre, got right in, no waiting--for 2 hours that I'll never get back. I guess I just expected something funnier, more quirky -- that wasn't what I got. It had it's moments; the inserted comments from people who weren't part of the main cast, those were funny. But, since
everyone else I was with seemed to enjoy it, lol, it must just be me.

And besides, what last night was, was more than a movie. It was Girl's Night Out with amazing ladies who have been there for me when he just wasn't into me, and will always be there, whether he's into me or not... thank you ladies...

Bruuuuuce

This had to be one of the best SuperBowl halftime performances I've seen since the "wardrobe malfunction" (which you can watch on YouTube, so I won't post here...) Bruce and the E-Street band had as much energy as when I saw the Tunnel of Love tour at The Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA.

Wonderful !! Thanks.

Mole Hills

Grrrrr.... The moles are destroying my back yard and moving to my front yard...

A bunch of government entities decided to make a better space for the salmon, so they completely redirected the Green River behind my house. While this was going on, the moles, who I had managed to keep at bay after several years of diligence, got very pissed off at the all of the heavy equipment and returned, with a vengeance...Besides the fact that the dirt hills look terrible, they bring up a bunch of rock too, it makes it impossible to safely mow what little grass (mostly weeds) we have--the rocks come flying out of those mole hills and cause ugly damage.

I've tried the pinwheels, but there's just not enough wind right now to keep them moving...

or the moles are just being plain mean...

So, I was watching an episode of Gardening with Cisco that told of a safe way to help keep the varmints at bay (I can't find the episode on-line, but I love Cisco). The idea was to take a bunch of mint plants, cut them up, toss them in your blender and then cook them for a while. When they are done simmering, dump the mixture down the

holes. Well, that sounded interesting, but I don't have bunches of mint lying around and my kitchen just didn't seem big enough for that kind of production, so I improvised--I bought a bunch of spearmint hard star candies and melted them with boiling water. With a 5 gallon pail and baster, I flattened mole hills and delivered doses of spearminty water. There's some great dirt that I could use in those mole hills, but I just couldn't figure out where to put it, so I guess it will just have to go back into the yard...I'll spend some more time in the yard next week-end if the weather isn't too bad, flatten out some more hills-- lol mountains out of mole hills ...

We did however get great deal on some primroses...

I can't pass up a good deal on flowers-- it was nice to plant some early color -- Bring on springtime !!

Golf, in January--

We did it !! We got out and golfed for the first time in 2009. Good lord the conditions were deplorable, our shoes are wrecked, our feet are sore but oh my what a fun time !! We went to Sumner Meadows one of my fav places to play--they were closed last week-end due to flooding, and I've got to say, they should have paid us to play... Our tee time was for 11:04. When we got there, we found that the entire clubhouse had been flooded and they were working out of the cart barn, with only 1 computer, so it was backed up already. No biggie. We got signed in and headed off to #1, we already knew that there would be someone with us, his name was Matt. 2 groups in front, so we tried to warm-up, seriously, it was still in what I think was the upper 30's. We had layers on. I had mentioned to Melina that on hole number 1 as long as you stayed to the left you would be fine; when we tee'd off I proceed to put 1 all the way to the right over the water to the 9th fairway, 2nd ball, right into the water, just further up, took another drop and moved on and took and 8, which frankly, I was happy with. Man it was really soggy out there, took a while to get through the front 9--I got my first ball back, it was still lying there (who's going to pick up a pink ladies ball), and Melina had an amazing shot out of the bunker smack into the hole, we screamed. In the end, I ended up with 2 pars and 1 birdie and lost I don't know how many balls--I developed a slice like I've never seen today, gotta fix that quick. And I don't think that the temperature ever got much above 42, maybe...Man we had a good time...(Matt took our pic, but had to take his first :)

Flat Stanley is ok

A few years (more than a few ?) a person I worked with introduced me to Flat Stanley. At the time, he was a figure cut out of a piece of regular old 8x10 white paper. The child doing the project would mail him to friends or relatives out of town and the recipient would take Flat Stanley on a journey. During his time with me, my Flat Stanley was probably scarred for life; his visit with another one of my work com padre's was just as troubling; I wish I still had pictures of Flat Stanley's whole vacation to the beautiful Pacific Northwest, they were awe inspiring. I guess Flat Stanley has recovered from his trip down the Green River and up I-5 ---

Work it

I walk, I ride my bike, I do yard work, I golf, I try to stay active, but I am not flexible. And as much as I try to ignore it, I'm stressed. I find myself driving or sitting and just clenching, for no apparent reason... So, one of the things I've decided to be better at this year, is to try and relax, stretch more and tone. I didn't want to go all warrior, that is sure way to fail. So I looked on the internet for stretching DVD's and there really wasn't a lot to choose from. I finally picked 10 Minute Solution, Target Toning for Beginners; I placed my order and *boom* back-ordered, so I looked around and found Power Walk for Weight Loss *boom* it was back-ordered too, dang, I put them on my wish list and within 2 weeks, they were available and shipped, but under 7 dollars each and free shipping... they arrived yesterday. I decided to try 1 feature a day. Today was thighs, 10 minutes, and oh my gawd !! I can't wait until I can do them all without looking !! Indoor walking should be great for the rainy days.

Rest In Peace

RIP Jordan You'll be missed...