…get a designated driver lined up if you are going to be drinking at Christmas Parties!
On a lighter note…I’m 3 posts away from 2000! I’ll reach that before the end of 2009. Thanks for putting up with all my posting people!!
Category Archives: personal
Slip Sliding Away!
Plans can be made and plans can be changed. I woke up this morning planning to bake a batch of cookies to send away to our son. My daughter was up and headed to work. I had the first batch of cookies in the oven when the phone rang. Katie had hit a patch of black ice, spun around on the road, and landed backwards in a nice ladies front yard taking out a good section of her wooden fence. The lady was very sweet and invited Katie in while she waited for me to arrive and figure out what to do next. While watching from the window Katie saw another car spin out of control and hit the front of her car even though it was well off the road. YIKES! A total of 3 cars had to be towed from this location.
I was so happy that Katie was fine just shook up from the wild ride. The only damage she caused was to her own car and that poor fence. She missed 2 cars in the driveway.
The Brier Police that came to the scene were very kind and helpful beyond their obligation. They even waited behind my parked car with their lights flashing until the tow truck arrived.
The tow truck driver that came in response to our AAA call was also very concerned and kind.
The police stayed until the car was completely on the bed of the tow truck! When we got home Katie called our insurance company and I finished baking the cookies, packed up a box to mail to our son and packed up a gift box of cookies to deliver to the Brier Police Station for the officers that took such good care of my daughter! Thank you officers Willey and Murphy!
We delivered the cookies to the police station, stopped at the post office to send off the cookies and then we decided we deserved a nice lunch and boy did we find a great one at Gratzi Italian Restaurant in Bothell. As you can see Katie is fine. Even after this great lunch we weren’t done yet salving our wounds…
Cookies and a nice cup of English Tea continued the healing from our ordeal…
I’m thanking God for watching over Katie, keeping her from being hurt, and sending kind people to care for her.
Hug your loved ones today!
Counting Down to Saturday…
I love this view that we had on our early morning walk this past Saturday. The sky looks painted don’t you think? This coming Saturday I fly to Seattle and will be at our home there until the New Year. I’ll miss our early morning walks here in Southern California with Dear and with Willow. Dear will join me there over Thanksgiving and then have an extended vacation during Christmas in Seattle, too. I have projects to complete that require some extended time there for me. My countdown here includes projects that need to get done before I fly away on Saturday. On Tuesday I’m headed to my mom and dad’s for a meal with the girls in the family, sisters and nieces and a nephew or two. It will be hit and miss with me and the blog till I get my Seattle legs. In the meantime I’ll be praying for God’s blessings on my bloggy friends…
Where’s ellen b.? ~ She flew the coop!
Just wanted to share one last image of our first born Josh with his beautiful wife Laura at a good friend’s wedding this past Friday. Laura was in the wedding.
I stole it without asking right off of facebook!!
Too Much Fun Leaves Me Limp…
This is how I feel right now. So many fun things on my plate that have made me a little limp. I’m looking forward to the weekend and some relaxation. I’ll post some photos from the Homecoming for Blue Monday and Mosaic Monday.
I Inherited Some Property 46 Years Ago…
I read this yesterday and was moved by it…
“Charles Fuller (1887-1968), a preacher and director of The Old Fashioned Revival Hour radio program, announced he was going to be speaking the next week on heaven. During that week of preparation, he received a letter from an older man who was very ill:
Next Sunday you are to talk about heaven. I am interested in that land, because I have held a clear title to a bit of property there for over 55 years. I did not buy it. It was given to me without money and without price. But the Donor purchased it for me at tremendous sacrifice. I am not holding it for speculation since it is not transferable. It is not a vacant lot. For more than half a century I have been sending materials out of which the greatest Architect and Builder of the universe has been building a home for which will never need to be remodeled or repaired because it will suit me perfectly, individually, and will never grow old. Termites can never undermine its foundations for they rest on the rock of ages. Fire cannot destroy it. Floods cannot wash it away. No locks nor bolts will ever be placed upon its doors, for no vicious person can ever enter that land where my dwelling stands, now almost completed and almost ready for me to enter in and abide in peace eternally, without fear of being ejected. There is a valley of deep shadow between the place where I live in California and that to which I shall journey in a very short time. I cannot reach my home in that City of Gold without passing through this dark valley of shadows. But I am not afraid because the best Friend I ever had went through the same valley long, long ago and drove away all its gloom. He has stuck by me through thick and thin since we first became acquainted 55 years ago, and I hold His promise in printed form, never to forsake me or leave me alone. He will be with me as I walk through the valley of shadows, and I shall not lose my way when He is with me. I hope to hear your sermon on heaven next Sunday from my home in Los Angeles, California, but I have no assurance that I shall be able to do so. My ticket to heaven has no date marked for the journey, no return coupon, and no permit for baggage. Yes, I am all ready to go and I may not be here while you are talking next Sunday evening, but I shall meet you there some day.”
I learned these verses from the Bible way back when I was in grade school. They remain some of my favorite in the Bible today. I’m sharing it in the King James Version since that is the version I used in the 50’s.
John 14:1-7 (King James Version)
1Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
2In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
4And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
5Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
6Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
7If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
Have a wonderful day…
ht: Walking With the God Who Cares, Catherine Martin.
Rain in the Forecast…
There is rain in the forecast for California. Rain effects Southern California different then the Pacific Northwest. Things get cancelled because of rain in California. Rain is to Southern California what Snow is to the Pacific Northwest. When we first moved to the state of Washington from California where we were born and raised we were shocked with what people did in the rain. Roofers would be roofing, concrete was being poured in the rain, parties in parks went on in the rain, people barbecued in the rain. After living in the Seattle area for 20 years we got real used to doing everything in the rain. The only sport that gets cancelled because of rain is baseball. Here in California everything slows down because of the rain. Thankfully people slow way down to 65 miles an hour on the freeway instead of going 80. So I’m looking forward to a couple of slow days here in California. We’re hoping that the rain doesn’t cause too many mudslides on our freshly burned hillsides. People here in the Southern California area are also hoping for a Freeway Series….L.A. Dodgers vs. the Angels!
Hoping to get a walk in this Tuesday Morning before the skies open up! Have a good Tuesday everyone…
Seattle!
We were very happy to make our flight at LAX for Seattle yesterday. We were the latest we’ve ever been for a flight and just made the 40 minute cut-off for checking a bag. Sheesh.
It’s good to be home but I made the mistake of walking into our son’s empty room this morning and I lost it. Even though he’s a 28 year old adult the realization that he’s left the nest hits this mom’s heart. The old world Russian upbringing I had never condoned kicking your kids out of the house at 18! They in fact would be pretty upset if a son or daughter left their house before they were married! :0)
We really couldn’t be happier that he has found a great vocation for himself and that he is being trained for it many miles away from home. When his training is complete he will be living about 6 hours away from us.
D-O-N-E ~ Done!!
It is now a confirmed fact that I really am not a crafter. I am not good at anything that takes more then a day to complete. If I can accomplish it in an hour or two or at least within a day I’m a dedicated worker but…if it takes longer I become testy and the joy of the project vanishes out the window!
I was hoping to share my high school scrapbook with my graduating class at our next mini-reunion but it was falling apart and a lot of the memorabilia was escaping. I knew I needed to re-do the whole thing. I bought a lot of those new fangled scrap booking goodies. You know acid free this and that and memory book glue as opposed to Elmers, yada yada yada. What a mess projects are. It took me a couple of weeks and 3 separate trips to Michael’s but I finally am DONE, D-O-N-E done! Yippee. Not a moment too soon either because I was getting ready to just burn the whole thing.
Lots of fun memories. It was amazing to see the prices of movies, shows and food from the late sixties. I think I had enough sugar packets from restaurants to bake a cake with. I decided to slit a little hole in each and empty the sugar out this time around. If anyone runs out of matches just come on over. I have several matchbooks.
I now have a scrapbook that can travel without leaving a trail behind.
I’m really enjoying my nice clean dining table top!
Have a good Tuesday.
Labor Day Weekend…
This is going to be a fun long weekend for Dear and me. We are going to celebrate his birthday every day this weekend. This year Dear’s birthday happens to fall on 09-09-09! All the more reason to celebrate in style. On Saturday we are driving up the coast to Morro Bay for lunch and whatever else comes our way.
On Sunday after church we are headed south down the coast to have a birthday brunch at The Five Crowns Restaurant in Corona Del Mar. Monday morning the tide is low at the right time for us so we are going to have an early morning walk on the beach in Ventura. I hope to get lots of fun photos to share.
I also am documenting some things about my blog that are interesting to me and probably not so much to you….
This post is #1861.
I have had over 414,000 visits to my blog.
I am in my third year of blogging.
These last couple days I have had over 500 hits on all my Glendale Forest Lawn posts. I think this is because Michael Jackson’s funeral was there on Wednesday and people are curious about Glendale Forest Lawn now.
My most viewed post so far is my recipe for Rice Krispy Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars with 8732 views.
Coming in at 2nd is my recipe for Russian Easter Bread with 6210 views.
One of my earliest posts that comes in at third is An Irish Blessing for a New Home with 5362 views.
The fourth top post was my 2008 Christmas Tour of Homes with 4226 views.
Blogging has been a fun creative exercise for me and I’ve found a great joy in photography since I started blogging. I appreciate the little things more. One of the best benefits in blogging are all the friendships that have developed around the world. I don’t know how long I’ll keep this going but for as long as I do I’m going to have fun doing it. I love hearing from all my bloggy friends.
Have a good weekend…
Road Trip, Overnight Guests, and Reunions Oh My!
Today I’m doing all the last minute things I need to do for our trip back to the Condo in Southern California. Our daughter Katie and her boyfriend Ben are road tripping with us and then staying in Southern California with us for a week. My brother Leonard and his wife Mandy and their daughter Miss Hope arrive in Southern California on Tuesday. We have extended family events planned for the week. I do not know how much blogging will occur.
I wanted to share some fun events coming up in blog land with you before I disappear for a while.
On Tuesday August 18th I’m pleased to announce I’ll be guest posting on Sandy’s blog ~4 Reluctant Entertainers. If you’ve never visited her blog you should. She really is a gifted lady and has great ideas on incorporating hospitality in your home. You’ll also enjoy her recipes and photographs.
On Saturday August 22nd the next Round Robin Photo Challenge is Birds! Don’t let this one fly by! You can sign up for this challenge by following the simple directions here.
On Tuesday August 25th there’s a Let there be White Party hosted by Kathleen at Cuisine Kathleen. Click on over to get the details…
On August 28th there’s a Show Us Your Roosters party hosted at Bella Vista by Barb.
Then on September 11th there’s a 2nd Cloche Party hosted by Marty at A Stroll Thru Life.
Hope to see you all soon.
