Getting to Know You…

I enjoyed reading Eileen’s Getting to Know Me and Mildred’s, too, so I’m answering the 25 questions.

1. What is your middle name?:

I do not have a middle name on my birth certificate. In my Russian culture I would be introduced as Ellen, Moisi’s (daughter) Bagdanov. Everyone would then know that I was Moisi’s daughter not Ivan’s daughter.

That’s my maiden last name in Russian on my paternal grandparents’ gravestone.

2. What was your favorite subject at school?:

Any class where the teacher made me feel like they appreciated having me as a student especially my English teachers in high school. I enjoyed Home Economics and ended up majoring in Home Economics.

Mrs. Nicolaus was my favorite primary teacher.

3. What is your favorite drink?:

Morning: coffee Cocktail: Gin and Tonic

4. What is your favorite song at the moment?:

Great is Thy Faithfulness

5. What is your favorite food?:

It’s hard to beat a good Ribeye steak or Osso Bucco or Prime Rib. I can’t narrow it down to one. My easy go to comfort food is probably Mexican food but I love finding good Persian restaurants that take me back to my food roots. I’m going to say my favorite food is food!

6. What is the last thing you bought?:

A large angel at Homegoods today.

7. Favorite book of all time?:

Yikes! Another hard one to narrow down. Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter Series.

8. Favorite Color?:

Blue

9. Do you have any pets?:

10. Favorite perfume?:

I don’t wear perfume and if you do please spray lightly. Thank you. 🙂

11. Favorite holiday?:

Easter is my favorite.

12. Are you married?:

Yes, this month we’ll celebrate 44 years!

13. Have you ever been out of the country?:

Yes. Great Britain seven times, Italy (Milan) once, Mexico once, Canada too many times to count.

14. Do you speak any other language?:

I can speak Russian poorly. I understand it better than I can speak it.

15. How many siblings do you have?:

Eight, 4 brothers and 3 sisters.

This photo is from my sister Kathy’s wedding. The groom and best man that are flanking Kathy aren’t part of the my 7 siblings and Dear is standing next to me. All the rest are my brothers and sisters who are now 44 years older! Kathy, Vera, Fred, Ellen, Tim, Steve, Lana and Leonard. The last two are twins.

16. What is your favorite shop?:

Homegoods

17. Favorite restaurant?:

For a nice hunk of meat, Metropolitan Grill. My all time favorite places to eat are Pubs in Great Britain.

18. When was the last time you cried?:

Last week. I cry easily during worship services.

19. Favorite Blog?:

I like a variety of blogs and especially enjoy visiting blogs that don’t bombard me with ads. I’m sad that a few of my favorites aren’t up and running at present.

20. Favorite Movie?:

The older Pride and Prejudice series with Colin Firth. Does that qualify as a movie?

21. Favorite TV shows?:

Great British Baking Show, Alone, Top Chef, Project Runway, Live PD, Survivor, NCIS, just to name a few.

22. PC or Mac?:

23. What phone do you have?:

Samsung 4 or 5 , probably time to upgrade.

24. How tall are you?:

5′ 4-1/2″

25. Can you cook?:

Yes I can and I’m part of the Mennonite Girls Can Cook. My mother was a great Russian cook. Her love language was to cook for others and to feed them. She loved to listen to cooking shows on the radio and try to write down the recipes. Since she didn’t know how to write in English this was a challenge for her. She enjoyed trying new things and inspired all of her kids to cook. The photo above is from our humble home in Montebello at a dinner prepared for the cheer squad by my mom, Borsch, Meat and Potato filled Perishky and Blintzes. My parents modeled hospitality even though they always struggled financially while we were growing up.

Thanks for visiting today. We are hoping our counters will be able to be cut and installed on Monday!

Down With Photobucket!

Photobucket is holding all my photos hostage from me that I added to their site from 2007 and beyond. When I got to 99% full of my free photo storage space they wanted me to pay for more space. I stopped adding photos to the site. I chose not to pay for more storage and now they have deleted all my photos from my blog posts. I am more than miffed because to free my photos from their grasp they want me to pay $$ a year. What a bother. I worked all day on Friday trying to fix some of my many many posts. I’ve also had to restore many posts on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook. I’ve got miles to go before my posts are restored.

Addy is a bit concerned, too. I’m so glad that not one of Addy’s photos is stored at Photobucket!

She Was A Happy Girl

When our daughter Katie was in fourth grade she was put into a Gifted program which was housed in a different school from our neighborhood school. After a few months in this program we started noticing some troubling patterns and angry outbursts from her. She did not want to go to school and wasn’t interested in doing any homework. She finally opened up to us and told us about her experiences on the playground from the other “gifted” kids. We decided the best thing to do was to pull her out of the program and try to repair the damage by homeschooling her. This was one of our best parenting decisions and moves. When we told her teacher and the administration we were pulling her out they were shocked and told us we were making a mistake. They felt this program was giving Katie some options she wouldn’t get in a regular classroom or at home. We just smiled and walked away. We home schooled for 4th, 5th and 6th grade and then Katie decided she’d like to try public school again entering junior high/7th grade. This is something I wrote in 1996 after hearing how Katie was treated and after watching how she was shunned at the school bus stop.

She Was a Happy Girl

She was gentle and kind
She liked to pretend and giggle and dream
Her dreams became playground games
She pranced and danced and was a tree fairy
Her imagination smiled inside her head
She was a happy girl

Other children on the playground couldn’t figure her out
She wasn’t like them
She was different in their eyes
Because of her uncommon ways they began to taunt her

She became the playground plague
She was called the germ
No one should touch the germ
or play with the germ
because they would become a germ, too.

She was a happy girl
but their thoughts and their actions
turned her into a sad and angry girl
She couldn’t understand and couldn’t change
what the playground had made her

She was a happy girl

I’m happy and thankful to God that Katie thrived being home schooled and when she re-entered the public school system she continued to do well. She enjoyed drama and art and had some great teachers who recognized her talents and abilities. She made some good friendships along the way at school and at church. She had very impressive SAT scores. She also was a National Merit Scholar. She completed college and now is standing by her husband as he completes his college degree in Aeronautical Engineering. He had a late start because of serving as a U.S. Marine. She still doesn’t fit in anyone’s mold. She is uniquely Katie. That’s one of the trees on one of her elementary playgrounds that she pretended she was a fairy in.

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Numbers 6:24-26

I found this as we sorted through lots and lots of paperwork and decided to put it on my blog as a reminder of how far we have come and how we were carried through by God’s love and grace in difficult times. There are some other things I might share from time to time. Peace be with you and yours.

The College Years

My college years spanned from 1968 to 1973. I had a fifth year for my teaching credential and student teaching.

For my first year of college I went away about 60 miles east of my home to the University of Redlands.

My college roommate was Violet (Violeta). Her major was Spanish. After my first year I decided to move back home and commute to Cal-State Los Angeles to finish my college years.

Back in the Los Angeles area Heidi’s family and mine attended Bethany Baptist Russian Church in L.A. and we became the best of friends. This friendship continues to this day. In fact, all these friendships that I show here are still intact.

We went on an a trip together in the summer of 1970 to Michigan and New Jersey with side trips to Buffalo (Niagara Falls), New York City, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Washington D.C. This was the first time I flew in an airplane.

These are my and Heidi’s Russian friends from Buffalo, New York and San Francisco. None of us went to Stanford although I did apply to go there but was not accepted. The photo above was taken on the day of the Rose Parade in Pasadena. Stanford was playing someone in the Rose Bowl Game. This was either January 1st, 1971 or 1972.

While in college Jeaneen and I met in our Home Economics classes and a new friendship was started. I introduced Jeaneen to my cousin Jim and they ended up getting married. We’ve had many great times together through the years. After marriage the four of us continued our friendship. We both had homes in Huntington Beach and we attended the same church while we lived in H.B.

I met Dear in my college years in 1972. My friend Heidi auditioned for the Christian singing group that Dear was part of and I met him at the concerts that I’d attend with Heidi. After a summer tour in England the group needed an alto so I auditioned for the group. That fall Dear and I started dating and September 6th of 1973 he asked my father for my hand in marriage.

While in college at Cal-State L.A. I had a part-time job at Montgomery Ward in their parts department. I paid my own way through college but I lived at home so my parents fed me and never charged me rent.

I graduated from Cal-State with a degree in Home Economics and earned my teaching certificate. The photo above is myself and Dear and my brother and me. Besides Fred and me graduating at this time my cousin Jim and my friend Jeaneen and another friend from my Russian Baptist church, Alex, graduated with us.

Some significant things that happened while I was in college besides what I shared already:

My sister Vera got married in November of 1969.

During Summer quarter in 1970 I came down with a terrible sore throat one week before finals. Then I broke out in a rash all over my body. When I went to the doctor they had me come in the back door and straight to an examination room. The doctor diagnosed Scarlet Fever and sent me home on bed rest with medications. While in the doctors office the doctor kept bringing in all the nursing staff there to see what Scarlet Fever looked like. OYE. I was flat on my back in bed and very sick for a couple of weeks. My sister Kathy was planning a trip to England with her best friend so the doctor put her on antibiotics (precautionary). My poor sister ended up being allergic to the antibiotic and broke out in hives all over her body on the day of my cousin Alex’s wedding. She was quite upset but went to the wedding anyway. I missed all my finals and had to take them the beginning of Fall quarter. Needless to say that wasn’t a great quarter for my grade average!

My brother Fred got married in April of 1972.

There was a gasoline shortage in 1973 where there was rationing and we could only buy gas on odd or even days depending on our license plate ending number.

Lynden B. Johnson (63-69) and Richard M. Nixon (69-74) were the Presidents of the United States during my college years.

My next post will be about post college years with my engagement and wedding.

My youngest brother and older sister both commented on my Hume Lake post that I forgot to mention another epic thing that happened in 1963, the year I was saved. How could I ever forget the fact that my mother delivered twins at the end of July that summer? A little girl and a little boy born and my parents now had four boys and four girls under their roof! My father had no idea my mother was having twins and only found out when he got home from work. (no cell phones and my father worked at remote sites with no phones) My little brother Tim ran out to the car to greet him when he pulled into the driveway from work and said, “Pop, not one baby, two babies!” My poor father was in shock!

I leave you with this sweet photo of our little twins Cvetlana (Lana) and Leonard from 1963! They are the icing on the cake for our family.

People! I’m seeing sunshine outside my window and blue skies and very few clouds. This is cause for a celebration here in the Pacific Northwest! We have had rain, rain and more rain for a nice long stretch now and what a welcome sight the blue skies are this morning.

Hume Lake Christian Camps

In my 66th year I continue my reflections on my life with a very significant year, 1963, my twelfth year on this earth. A year with a decision that has shaped the rest of my life.

Nestled close to Kings Canyon National Park in California’s Sierra Nevada is the Youth Camp that I was able to attend in 1963, 1965 and 1967. I was 12, 14, and 16 during these wilderness adventures.

I was raised in a family who attended church regularly and often, very religious. The church I was raised in gave me the impression that because I was Russian and a member of their church that I had an exclusive connection with God. What I learned at Bible Camp was that the only exclusive connection I could have to God was through Jesus Christ and what He did for me on the cross. Being Russian and being a part of my father’s religion did not give me a direct link to God. In 1963 at Hume Lake while listening to a speaker talk about Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross to save sinners I was moved to step out and become a follower of Jesus. God’s plan of salvation was exclusively through his perfect son Jesus, who is fully God and came to earth to live a perfect life among us and be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. I knew I was one of those sinners and I needed a Savior. This decision began a journey of ups and downs, highs and lows, but a journey forward with my God and Savior. When I began my new life following Jesus I was clothed with His righteousness and reconciled to God. I continue on this walk, never perfectly but with God’s grace I carry on. He will be teaching me by His Holy Spirit all the days of my life. My God and Savior is and will be faithful to see me through all of my life on this earth and I look forward with the Hope of seeing Him face to face in heaven. During this same year, 1963, my father began his journey of following Jesus after hearing Billy Graham at the Los Angeles Coliseum share the truth of Jesus Christ and why He came to earth over 2000 years ago. 1963 was an epic year for me and my family. For my father and me we became part of God’s movement of love and grace through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My mother was a follower of Jesus when she married my father. My two older sisters had started following Jesus before my father and me.

I’ll share this verse that Billy Graham proclaims in every interview I’ve ever heard him give. John 14:6 (ESV) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

HUME LAKE CHRISTIAN CAMP 1967

Reflections of my story from age 18 onward of my life will continue in another post.

Presently we are still waiting for that phone call. We are happy for it coming later than sooner since baby Addy is enjoying the womb and continues her growth in that comfort. We have a bag partially packed so we don’t have to wonder about something we forgot. We keep the car gassed up and ready to go. We are still in a very rainy pattern here in the Pacific Northwest. Plants should flourish well here this Spring. How goes it where you live?

Waiting…

A season of waiting makes for introspection. Some is good and some is not so good. In the world of blogging right now I’m not so good at getting around to many participants in my favorite weekly memes. I will cut down on some so I can do better with others. It doesn’t sit well with my brain and my comfort to be a “hit and run participant”.

I use feedly to keep track of the blogs I don’t want to miss any new posts from. I hope to add more blogs to this site as I search out more faithful bloggers out there.

We are in the season of Lent and Dear and I have set aside something together that we enjoy on a regular basis for this season. So maybe this is a kind of Spring cleaning time in my life.

We are on the alert for the arrival of our little Addy. God knows the timing on this and we will be hitting the road post haste when we get that phone call.

If you don’t see anything new here for a stretch of days don’t get the wrong idea. Blogging and bloggers are near and dear to me. I’m not giving up. Here are some verses from God’s Word on waiting in the English Standard Version.

Isaiah 40:31:

but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

Psalm 27: 13-14

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living!
Wait for the Lord;
    be strong, and let your heart take courage;
    wait for the Lord!

Psalm 33: 20-22

Our soul waits for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
For our heart is glad in him,
    because we trust in his holy name.
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
    even as we hope in you.

Psalm 130: 5-6

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
    and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
    more than watchmen for the morning,
    more than watchmen for the morning.

Isaiah 64: 4

From of old no one has heard
or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him.

1 Kings 2: 3

and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn,

Mid September Hodgepodge…

1. What’s changed in your life, home, or community since your last birthday?

A lot…

One of the biggest thing is that Dear is either unemployed or retired. We don’t know which one quite yet. This of course makes a huge impact on life at this old house.

Another one is that with my last birthday I am now at Medicare age.

Not quite at this stage yet but I hope we can still walk about and we’re still holding hands when we are this old.

2. September is Classical Music Month. Do you like/listen to classical music? If so what’s a favorite piece and/or who is a favorite composer?

We do enjoy classical music at this old house. We enjoy Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and others. We enjoy string quintets. Another favorite is Mozart’s clarinet concerto.

3. Besides The Bible, what’s a book that has positively changed your life, relationships, career, or perspective? How so?

Hedges: Loving your Marriage Enough to Protect It: Jerry B. Jenkins

This book has great safeguards that will help to protect a marriage from the pitfalls that can lead to adultery.

4. I read (here) these ten hobbies will make you smarter…play a musical instrument, read voraciously, meditate regularly, work out your brain (puzzles, sudoku, board games, etc), exercise often, learn a new language, write your feelings down (blog, journal, just write), travel to new places, cook different kinds of meals, participate in sports actively

Are any on this list your current hobbies? Which hobby on the list would you be most inclined to try?

Cooking and traveling to new places are current hobbies both of which do not help me in my goal to lose some fluffiness!

I’m inclined to try meditating more but the kind of meditating I’m talking about is clarified in this quote:

“Biblical meditation, unlike the popular varieties, is not a relaxation technique for emptying the mind but rather one that fills it with truth, using thought and memory to set your heart on fire.” ~Timothy Keller

5. What sports traditions does your family have?

The sports tradition that I share with my children (not my Dear who isn’t a team sports fan) is soccer. We have season tickets to the Seattle Sounders soccer games and enjoy these games together. If our football team makes it to the playoffs we’ll host a Seattle Seahawk Party to watch the game. Our family also enjoys hunting and shooting.

6. In a few words, weigh in on the current football/National Anthem brouhaha. Keep it family friendly please.

My feelings are that the football field is not the place to show your angst since you are not the primary person on the field but part of a team and part of a tradition that honors the flag and country. It’s a sport’s field not a soap box. You should find another place that is more personal to share your feelings. You are being paid to play and paid well to play. Do your job and leave your platforms for another venue. I feel the same way about actors and actresses sharing their platforms on the Academy Awards Stage. I choose to honor the flag and those who have died protecting our freedom with these young men and others…

Our very own Marine and our daughter.

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7. Where do you have loads of patience, and where do you most lack patience?

Loads of patience with my children. A horrible lack of patience with other drivers on the road!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I’m enjoying the little and big hints that Fall is just around the corner. There will be lots of leaves falling to deal with but I like the changing seasons and what each season holds. Growing up in Southern California we didn’t have the same distinct passing of seasons. I’m still not sure if Fall or Spring is my favorite. Here are images from each season in our state of Washington.

Linking up with From This Side of the Pond for Hodgepodge Wednesday. Thank you Joyce for coming up with the questions and inviting us to join in.

Our Friend David Dickinson…

Dave’s life on this earth ended on Saturday July 30, 2016. He died peacefully at home with his wife Beth and son Jamie at his side. Our family of 8 were seated around our patio table when the text came in to inform us of Dave’s gentle transition from earth. We cried and we prayed for the Dickinson family. We have been blessed to enjoy a friendship with the Dickinson’s since our two little guys, Dan and Jamie, met in 2nd grade. We lived on the same hill in Bothell, Washington when our friendship began.

This is a photo of Dear, Dave, and Beth in our kitchen on Norway Hill during Dear’s graduation party from the University of Washington in 1992. Dear had the privilege of baptizing Dave in the early 1990’s. (photos not necessarily in order)

Dave coached a few of Dan and Jamie’s sport teams over their youth sport years. Jamie on Dave’s right and Dan on the end on his knees opposite of Jamie.

Dan and Jamie attended camps together, the prom together, graduated together and Dan was a groomsman in Jamie and Sarly’s wedding.

The above photo was taken at a high school graduation party for Jamie and Dan at the Dickinson’s home.

The Dickinson family before the boys were married. Jamie is their youngest son, Aaron in the middle and Matt is the oldest.

The four of us outside our first rental on Norway Hill. We were snowed in but Dave and Beth could walk down to our place for some fun in the snow. This was in early 1997 or late 1996.

Jamie and Dan in 1999.

Dave and Dear working on our addition in 2002.

Laura, Josh, Jamie and Dan above the Columbia River. We had no idea at this time that Dan would be living in Eastern Washington close to the Columbia. Josh and Laura are the best of friends with Jamie and Sarly, too.

These two shots are from Jamie and Sarly’s wedding day in 2008. Above is Dave, Dear and Josh.

Dave and Beth

Beth and Dave with our Dan when we celebrated his move to Eastern Washington for his new vocation.

Our daughter Katie also has a close relationship with Beth and Dave and Jamie. We won’t get into how Dan and Jamie entrusted their rats from a science project into Katie’s care. A excellent con job if I say so myself.

Katie, Beth and I took a trip to Sequim for a George Washington Birthday Tea in February of 2012 just before Katie and Andrew’s wedding in March of 2012. It was a very windy day.

Dave, Sarly, Jamie and Beth at Katie and Andrew’s wedding, March 11, 2012. (photo credit to Jeremy Leffel)

Kathleen, Dave and Beth (photo by Jeremy Leffel)

Dave decided to try on Dan’s hat at the wedding. Dan wore his formal uniform at his sister’s wedding instead of a tux. (photo by Jeremy Leffel)

Dave with his granddaughter at the Thanksgiving table at our home in 2012.

Early in 2013 Beth and Dave stopped by to tell us that Dave had been diagnosed with Lung Cancer.

The Dickinson family photo above was taken on July 4th 2013 two years before little David Daniel was born and a few months into Dave’s treatments for cancer.

Beth and Dave in November of 2014 after returning from a trip to Europe with good friends. It was good to hear Dave felt well enough to enjoy this trip.

(Photo credit to Jeremy Leffel)

We were overjoyed that Dave and Beth could travel across the state for Dan and Jamie’s wedding in June of 2015. Things can get confusing with Dan and Jamie being best friends and then Dan meeting his bride who is named Jamie, too. Dave was also able to join our sons for a round of golf the day before the wedding. The next 3 photos are from that day, June 26th. Dave had a passion for the game of golf. I love these photos that Josh took of Dave and Dan together enjoying this special time before the wedding.

(Photo credit to Jeremy Leffel)

Dan and Dave at the wedding. Jamie Dickinson was going to be a groomsman in the wedding but wasn’t able to attend because his wife Sarly’s pregnancy was in crisis. Jamie and Sarly’s little son who we call the warrior was born at 25 weeks and only 1#7oz. He was born a few days after the wedding.

Our friend David and our son Daniel each holding David Daniel who was named after them. We found out at Daniel and Jamie’s wedding that this little warrior’s middle name would be given in honor of our son. It was decided early after finding out this child would be a boy to name him after his grandfather David.

There have been lots of prayers for these two Davids.

The Dickinson family Christmas of 2015.

dave with grands

This is the last photo emailed to us of Dave with four of his grandchildren. This was taken at a Mother’s Day Celebration in May of 2016. We were able to visit Dave and Beth before this photo was taken on May 5th and we joined hands and prayed together before we left not knowing when God would call Dave home.

Yesterday a little over a week since Dave’s death we were able to meet up with Beth for lunch. It was good to hear from Beth about Dave’s last days and last moments on this earth. It was also good to hear some plans for the future. We hugged, shed tears, laughed and thanked the Lord for his love and mercy, for friendship and especially for our hope in Him and our future.

There are plans being made for a memorial service that will be on a golf course sometime in the near future. Besides his immediate family, Dave’s brother and golfing buddies were a huge support to Dave over the course of his illness.

The Bayles family thanks God for Dave and his life and his friendship over the years. We will miss him on this earth but rejoice that he is with our Savior. We also ask the Lord to look after and guide and protect our dear friend Beth as she navigates her life without Dave.

1 Thessalonians 4:13, 14

Believers Who Have Died

¹³Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.

Organizing Five!

Time for Five on Friday and Friday’s Fave Five and I spent so many hours organizing spaces around this old house that I missed organizing my Friday post last night! Thank you to Amy and to Susanne who have organized these memes for all of us to enjoy.

Our eastern Washington kids are coming to visit the last weekend of this month. My daughter who just moved out of our basement with her hubby came over this week to help me organize her stuff that had overtaken this guest room. Now it is ready for Dan and Jamie’s visit. Although Katie and Andrew have moved out they have to leave a lot of their stuff here because it just won’t fit in their little 570 square foot space.

Besides clearing out guest room #1 we moved some furniture around and changed up Guest Room #2 and organized the basement. One of the additions in the basement is this drape (tablecloth) that covers the closet in the basement that is full to the brim with our daughter and son-in-law’s stuff. The dresser in the photo next to the bookcases is being filled with books we are ready to let go. Organization continues there.

Don’t be afraid as you look at my dish space in the basement. I have my mom’s 50th wedding anniversary dish set (service for 24), Christmas dishes, Thanksgiving dishes, pink Depression glass, lots of blue and white dishes, cake plates, etc. etc. I re-organized this space and even got rid of a few plates. But…then while I was in Canada on Tuesday I bought the fruit bowl (below) with 8 little matching bowls, oops. The boxes under the table belong to our kids. Our poor basement dwellers lived with this dish wall for a whole year bless them…

I’m such a sucker for Johnson Brothers dishes.

While I’ve been organizing inside this old house Dear has been organizing his shop and our garage space. We’ve also completed projects organizing outside spaces. This next photo is our latest organized outdoor space. I can see this planter from my kitchen window.

So I am thankful for spaces to organize, the strength to organize them, the satisfaction of ordered spaces, having help in the process, and looking forward to sharing these organized spaces with others.

What are you thankful for? Are you on an organizing binge?

What’s New in 2016…

We finally were able to admit to ourselves that we weren’t thrilled with Keurig coffee. We have returned to using a Bunn Coffee Maker now and are enjoying a full bodied cup in the morning. Keurig is convenient but no matter what pods we bought we didn’t get the depth of flavor that we enjoy from our freshly ground coffee.

Dear was unemployed from May 29th of last year and has just signed a contract with a Biotech company that has a product in trials. He is working from home for 6 months for this company as an independent contractor. Being an independent contractor means that Dear does not have any benefits at this time. Here he is in his new at home office.

I was fine with giving up my desk since I didn’t make money from this desk but just spent money paying our monthly bills! Dear is doing a lot of reading and studying about the cancers that his new company is working on fighting. It takes a long time and a lot of research for a new drug/procedure to be developed and brought into the market, not to mention a lot of money. Dear will be attending an Oncology Conference in San Francisco next week and I’m tagging along. I’m hoping the weather will be decent enough for me to walk about the city staying mostly dry.

Any recommendations for restaurants or sights you wouldn’t want me to miss?

Having Dear working at home I have to re-think how my days go and how I’m going to work around him.

One thing we are trying to establish as a good habit is walking each day. Having someone to walk with and ~~nagging~~ encouraging him to do it is a win win situation.

Since I turn 65 soon I have been inundated with all the choices of Medicare supplement plans. Instead of Christmas catalogs I’m getting Medicare mail! I have to choose a Medicare plan soon and we have to come up with a health insurance plan for Dear since he’s younger than me and we lost our insurance when his company was bought out last year and his department was eliminated.

Something that’s not new and seems to be a recurring situation is the fact that I am back in the fluffy state and am getting motivated to de-fluff again.

What’s new in 2016 for you?

I’m headed for the kitchen now to put a cake in the oven for our birthday celebration tonight. Got the table set in a Russian theme and I’ll share that with you next week…

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Category Archives: personal