Category Archives: personal

Her Nest…

My mom was set free from the Care Center on Saturday and settled back into her little nest with Pop. They are both so happy that she is back home. Pop lowered their bed so she can get in and out more easily. He’s doing the cooking these days and family members are bringing in food, too. When I called them on Saturday night you could here the lightness in their voices of being together in their little apartment again. God is good.

Dear found this carefully constructed nest while doing some weeding.

Here we are in the last week of August. Do you have any plans for Labor Day Weekend?

Just a Year Ago…

…We were in Southern California having a bridal shower for Katie. It seems like ages ago.

I talked to my mom today and she is still experiencing lots of pain so will you please continue to pray for her and my dad. They were both crying which is hard to take over the phone and being 1200 miles away. I know she’ll get better but these are hard days to bear before the better days come.

My sister took this photo this evening and she reports that my mom is feeling a lot better since I talked to her this morning. I’m so happy to see this. Thank you Lana. My mom is learning to manage her pain.

A bizarre storm swept through Nuevo, Ca. and the surrounding area with tornado like effects on Sunday. My brother’s family lives there and they have been cleaning up. On one street a dozen power poles came down like dominoes. They had to work hard to keep mud from coming into their home. Yikes, now they are getting severe weather warnings again. So far there are no injuries that we’ve heard of. Needless to say there are power issues and with temps over a 100 that is not a good scenario…

Our refrigerator is getting repaired today sometime…remember our light issue that caused the light housing to melt. It’s after 4:30 and we’re still waiting. Did you ever read Waiting for Godot in your school years? Hopefully we aren’t waiting for Godot.

We are still having summer here in the Northwest and that has been nice. I’m going to have to water!!

Random on Saturday

I bought a new camera strap that is specifically designed with a woman’s body in mind. So far the best benefit is how nice it feels on my body and how much lighter my camera feels compared to when my neck supported the weight with the strap the camera came with. I’ll be breaking it in the beginning of next week when we head out on a road trip to Eastern Washington.

Have a great Saturday!

Fun on Saturday…

Finally hung my new squirrel proof bird feeder that my friend Beth gave me. Thanks Beth! It was sunny a couple days this week! I also added some lanterns in the tree for fun. I might hang them again with red, white, and blue ribbons for the 4th of July.

The lanterns came down before the rains came down again on Friday.

On the way to the Sounders game last Wednesday (another great sunny day, but who’s counting?) we saw the progress on Seattle’s Ferris Wheel. I love that the stadiums and Mt. Rainier are in the background.

Saturday morning I’m headed out, probably in the rain, for a little reunion walk with my former walking buddies. In the evening we are joining our son and DIL at a Medical Missions Auction fund raiser dinner at Safeco Field, that’s where the Mariners Baseball team plays. The dinner will be on the infield of the stadium. We were told to make sure we dress warmly. It should be fun. We might get some sun again tomorrow.  On Sunday after church I’m hoping to drag Dear to the HomeGoods grand opening in Lynnwood. Finally they are opening a store here in Washington state. How’s your weekend shaping up?

Distractions…

I have a lot of photos from the tulip fields to share with you but right now I’ve been thrown into a world of clamor.

Big trucks, scraping and hammering and danger all around. Well…the danger part is mostly me and how I feel about men walking around on steep roofs or climbing up tall ladders.

When things are removed, new things are revealed. Here’s Dear painting the fascia underneath the old gutters that we realized were just bare wood and never painted. I got to hold the ladder, except for when I was taking a photo. Now when the new gutters go up the wood will be more protected.

We’re real thankful that the roofers have gotten some periods of dryness so that things aren’t as slippery as they could be.

Soon the mayhem will be over, my checkbook will be drained, and I’ll post more tulip photos.

Things Are Looking Up…

Just wanted all my kind bloggy friends to know that I’m feeling a whole lot better. For the record, my tooth has not hurt at all and the temporary crown feels fine. All my discomfort involved the procedure. The fear involved with my throat and swallowing affected my whole body. Amazing how powerful fear can be. Once again thank you for your great encouragement to me.

Looks like I’ll be mowing some more leaves but not until next week! Tomorrow I get to go see my therapist hairdresser. Hope your week is going well.

Sometimes It’s Fun to Be a Princess…

…or a Queen!

I’ve lived long enough to know that things can change and sometimes the change is abrupt. A good rule of thumb in life is to enjoy the days you are given. If things are especially nice why not just bask in it. When I consider things I can’t wrap my mind around like “the love of Christ, which surpasses knowlege” I am blown away. Considering what Christ has done for me is the best antedote to whatever comes my way. So I’ve had my Princess days and they are very nice. I’ve also had my dungeon days. Thankfully I knew they wouldn’t last forever.

On Saturday night my laptop got a nasty virus that took over and damaged many of my files, mostly my photos. Boohoo! Truth be told I’ve been thinking I needed a new computer with longer battery life and more room for my photos for a while. Anyhoo, on Sunday after church we went to Costco and bought me a new computer…yes I felt blessed that we could do that. Sunday afternoon we found someone to repair the old one so now Dear can use that one. He doesn’t store photos etc. so it will be great for what he does. There have been many seasons in our past where we wouldn’t have been able to replace a computer this easily.

My new computer has fingerprint technology that allows me to log into all my stuff including remembering my passwords with a swipe of one finger. Pretty weird and cool all at the same time. Dear says if I die he’ll have to cut off that finger so he can use the computer. If I die he can clean off my desk, too.

So I’m in a new learning curve around here with all this new technology. I also need to take some photos because my picasa is very very low on photos since my other computer ate them all up!

Hope all is well where you are…

Our God Cares for His Children…

My dear friend from Count it all Joy and The Matson Sisters has been having the struggle of her life this past week. Some of you may have visited her blog. She’s been in I.C.U. on a ventilator and unconscious. Kathy B. is my cousin Jim’s sister in law, my good college friend Jeanie’s sister. I introduced Jim and Jeanie to each other in college and they got married!  We’ve had a wonderful friendship over the years and through blogging Kathy B. has become my dear friend. Kathy B. has struggled with her form of cancer for 28 years. Our family and friends have been praying for consciousness and for Bill and Jeanie to be able to communicate with Kathy. We received amazing news on how God has been answering our prayers and Kathy regained consciousness and has been able to speak and give input on her care.  She was released from I.C.U. today. She will be released soon from the hospital to hospice care. We love you Kathy B. and thank God for your life and the impact you have had on ours! May God continue to prepare you and all of us for what he has for us…

Update on my 60 Things in my 60th Year List…

1. Finally make it to the top of the Space Needle. Completed on Wednesday January 26th!

2. Dinner with the Mennonite Girls and their husbands. Met for dinner at the Chuckanut Manor on March 13th!

3. East Coast Trip. Things are shaping up for a trip to Washington D.C.  (Any suggestions about what to see and where to eat would be highly appreciated) We were there from May 10th-18th. We saw more than our brains could take in!

4. Apply for my enhanced license so my trips to Canada will be easier. Completed in January!

5. Birthday getaway with my 3 sisters. Plans are afoot. Victoria B.C., April 1-3, 2011

6. Try one new restaurant every month of this year. Looks like this one is really going to be easy especially with trips planned.  Eastlake Bar and Grill~ Lake Union. The Hitching Post~ Monroe. Racha Thai ~Seattle.  Bishops Alehouse ~ Juanita. Chuckanut Manor-Bow. Barolo ~ Seattle. The Cabbage Patch ~ Snohomish. Pescatores ~ Victoria, B.C.

7. Send my parents a bouquet of flowers on my 60th birthday thanking them for loving me all these years. Sent on March 14th and my parents were thrilled.

8. Visiting a a new garden. Hillwood Garden in Washington D.C., Bishop’s Garden in Washington D.C. and Botanical Gardens in D.C.

9. Plant something new in my yard. I planted some Sweet Peas and 2 Top Hat blueberry bushes.

10. Have my flagpole installed. Installed on my birthday March 14th.

***11. Lose 10 pounds. Oh Nellie! I should have said gain 10 pounds! Woohoo!! Before I gain it back I want y’all to know that as of 7/18/11 I have lost 10 pounds. I started my program on June 12th. Now I’m moving on to lose 10 more. This past Sunday I fit into the jeans one size down that have been draped over the couch for a year waiting…

12. Enjoy a book by an author I haven’t read before. I’ve read a couple books by Jeanne Birdsall that I’ve enjoyed and I’m on the second book by Rick Riordan that I’m enjoying. I also read a non-fiction book by Lewis B. Smedes on Forgiveness.

13. Explore 6 cities/towns in Washington. Lake Union~  Monroe~  Snohomish~ Olympia ~ Lynden ~ Port Townsend

14. Try 2 new recipes every month. As you can see by my mosaic at the top of this update I have been trying lots of new recipes.

15. Go on a easy day hike.

16. Walk more.

17. Go to a new Tea Room. White Heather Tea Room in Victoria, B.C. (Oak Bay)

18. Purge 60 books off my bookshelves. Well on the way

19. Begin going through old boxes in the garage loft. Working on this with 4 boxes down to work on…

20. Go on an adventure with my daughter Katie. I’ve had many adventures. One fun one is going with her to register for her wedding! We just got back from a wonderful California adventure with family members. Our Bag-O-Rama Jamboree was a wonderful experience in Southern California from July 22nd to July 30th 2011~

21. Re-arrange some things that have been the same for 13 years in this old house. Moved antique hutch around and changed some wall hangings.

22. Buy a Welsh Sideboard. I’ve wanted one for years. Instead of a Welsh cabinet we found an Indonesian cabinet that fits our space perfectly.

23. Make and serve our Russian favorite recipes for family gatherings. Golubtsi, Pelemeni,

24. Find a couple new blogs to add to my favorites. Pondside, and more to be added soon…

25. Clean out my closet.

26. Take some time to journal.

27. Invite someone new over for a meal.

28. Invite old friends over for a meal. Had our dear friends over on April 8th for dinner.

29. Meet Dear downtown for lunch.

30. Do some volunteer work. Fulfilled on March 28th although I’d like to do more. United We Serve

31. Try baking a pie including the crust.

32. Bake cinnamon rolls from scratch.

33. Write some letters and mail them.

34. Surprise someone. Sent cookbooks to Dear’s Aunts and to a dear lady who encouraged me in college.

35. Get a manicure and pedicure. Fulfilled on July 18th, a gift from my brother’s family for my 60th.

36. Have more than one hour long massage. Fulfilled on June 20th, a gift from Josh and Laura for my birthday.

37. Use my sewing machine.

38. Be brave enough to get a new generation phone.

39. Call Dear’s Aunts on their birthdays. Called Aunt Audrey on April 14th ~ Called Aunt Carol on June 26th

40. Try something new with my camera. Tried doing some angled shots.

Now here are the final 20 of my list of 60 things to do in my 60th year!

41. Take a ride in a limousine with people she loves. Completed on my birthday March 14th with our sons, DIL, and Dear.

42. Treat people for her birthday. Bought drinks for all our season ticket neighbors at the opening game which was the day after my 60th birthday.

43. Find a purse that will accommodate my stuff plus my camera with a long enough strap to fit over my shoulder. Completed, I’ll share it soon.

44. Meet bloggy friends in person that she has never met in person before. Met the lovely Pondside in Victoria B.C. and she treated my sisters and I to a fine tour of her town. Met Jill from Jill’s World of Research, Reaction, and Millinery when she flew in to stay with us for the Lavender Farm Faire Tour.

45. Reorganize cabinets and purge some Chotskies.

46. Make those every so many year appointments you dread but need to do. Yearly-check, The Squeeze – check, Got my bone density done! check! Colonoscopy done!

47. Write a Psalm to God. Done!

48. Find a dress for our daughter’s wedding.

50. Learn to put the flagpole up and take it down. It’s not as hard as I thought and I’ve done it several times already.

51. Back up the files on my computer.

52. Create some photo books.

53. Mail a box of goodies to Katie’s Andrew while he is deployed. I’ve been adding things to Katie’s boxes.

54. Order a DVR. Got one March 24th!

55. Get a new modem that might actually make her internet work well. Got one and things have improved but we need more improvement! Finally got some good service and much improvement the week of May 23rd!

56. Send flowers to some unsuspecting person.

57. Detail my car.

58. Write poetic tribute of my history as seen on Debora’s blog.

59. Take a canoe ride on Lake Washington this summer with Dear. Him rowing, me taking photos.

60. Do a blog tribute to some of my favorite blog posts on other people’s blogs.

Coming up with 60 things was not an easy task. Maybe there will be some modifications along the way. It was a good exercise and I’ve already enjoyed the benefits of completing many of the 60.