I was being held captive in a faraway town called Sequim

We had company this afternoon. Rachel, Daryl and darling little Avery in her Halloween costume. Mom and dad were in costume too. They were on their way to a party.

The house I spent all week during my "captivity". Donna and Laif have a very nice house with such a great view. Yes, Debbie, in case you are reading this, I love your house too.Last Friday, October 23rd, Donna came over here to take me to the "holiday Food and Gift Festival" at the Tacoma Dome. We dropped Debbie off at the airport because she was spending the weekend with Jennie, Mike and Sophie. Maybe I should say that Debbie went to visit Sophie and it just happened that Mike and Jennie would be there.

We really enjoyed the food and gift festival. We had an interesting experience. One of the booths that we stopped at was "Viviane by Viviane Woodward". They sell Cosmetics and skin care. Apparently the guy who was demonstrating was the son of the people who had the booth. He was definitely not a salesman. He was such a helpless young man. Donna took over mothering him. He had his name tag on crooked so Donna fixed it and the gals in the next booth had even loaned him a lab coat so he would look a little more professional. He was very nice and polite and he kept opening jars of cream for me and I actually gave him an order. I liked the creams and the prices were very good and larger jars than most of the cosmetic products I buy. So--I filled out my order and gave it to him. He said if I put down my credit card number they could send the order right out. I was NOT about to put my credit card number on that loose piece of paper. Since I did not want to put my credit card number down he said that someone would contact me Saturday morning and verify the order and take my information. I have not heard a word about my order. It is hard to say what he did with it. He was so happy too because I was his first order. I may be old but I have more sense than to just write my credit card down on a loose order form.
So on Saturday, Donna and her neighbor Marge and I went to Port Angeles. Donna and Marge are both into quilting and are always buying stuff. I didn't take a camera because this was an unexpected quick trip and I forgot to take it. I will have to remember next time. Donna had made a real pretty quilt to go on the bed that I sleep on. I will take a picture of it next time.

Then the kidnapping scenario started. I left a message on Debbie's phone that I was at Donna's and she called Donna on Saturday and said she got this cryptic message that there had been a kidnapping. Then I was supposed to come back Wednesday but on Tuesday the school called Donna and asked if she could work Wednesday so we didn't go because it would be so late when she got back and also it was pretty windy. Debbie said she even bought me Blueberries and I wasn't coming home. Since Donna had to work both Thursday and Friday, we decided to come home today. (Halloween) If you haven't seen the pathetic picture Debbie put on Facebook, you will have to look at it. When I got home today the kitchen looked very nice. Debbie loves to tease me as she knows working in the kitchen is about my favorite thing. During the week she would say that when they ran out of dishes, they would use paper plates and this morning she was real funny, asking if you could buy disposable pans.

I am so lucky that I have children who will take care of me in my old age. After living at Merrill Gardens, I know how fortunate I am. There are some really lonely people there. Even though you have others around you, it is not like family.

Sunday, October 25th, we went to Church in Sequim. Donna and Laif made a nice big stew and put it in the crockpot so it would be ready after Church. The Missionaries were supposed to come over for dinner. Donna had rolls, a nice salad and she had made a cake. We got to Church and found that the Missionaries couldn't come. Donna called up her neighbors Marge and George and invited them to dinner. I didn't know Donna had made the cake for me. Donna and Laif made it into a birthday dinner for me. We had a nice time visiting. My birthday was really the next day, Monday.

Monday, October 26th. I got lots of phone calls for my birthday. I even got a call from my personal banker at Sound Community Bank. I remember when I was in Ketchikan last May visiting David, my banker called just to see how things were going. David said he never heard of a bank calling when you didn't owe money. Monday evening, Donna and I went to a Mary Kay party. Keely, the girl who is learning to do Mary Kay is so sweet. Keely cleans Marge's house. Marge has trouble do some of the work in her house because she has a bad shoulder. Keely's husband, Brian does their yardwork and right now is helping George put in steps and a railing. George makes Jewelry and the room he works in cannot be accessed from inside the house. So he and Brian are making an opening so George won't have to go outside. Marge says they are both real hard workers. They have two children and it sounds like Keely is going to sign up for the home schooling that Donna is doing.

Tuesday, October 27th. We went to Marge's house for the rest of the Mary Kay party. Last night they just had us use cleansers and creams. We did the one today at 2pm to do the makeup part. We had it early because Donna had to be at the radio station a few minutes before 4pm. I sat in the Sound booth with her. Since my other cosmetic order seems to have disappeared into nowhere, I ordered some products from Mary Kay. I got a catalog and I can order through Keely on line and she said there is never any shipping.

Wednesday, October 28th. Marge invited me to lunch today. She made Chili, cornbread and brownies. Brian was working for George today and they always invite him for lunch too.

Thursday, October 29th. Donna had to teach PE today and she will have to teach it tomorrow too. Her knee was swelling some. I went with her after school while she got her massage. It is something her medical pays for. I got to go in the room with her. The Therapist is working on breaking up some scar tissue and works on relaxing her muscles. Donna says her knee is still not as straight as it should be. Laif came home for the weekend. We went to Applebee's to eat. I got the Orange Chicken Bowl. It was so huge that I took half of it home to have for lunch Friday.

Friday, October 30th. I didn't mention that I have been watching my Soap Opera all week. The bad thing about the Soap Opera is that Donna records her Soap Opera and watches it after work. She watches "All My Children" and now I am interested in it. I know I am going to hate myself but I just put it on my TiVo to record every week. I ate my leftovers from Applebee's for lunch. When Donna came home we went to Costco so they could buy candy for the Trick or Treaters. We ate dinner at Costco. We went back to the house to pick up a pair of black pants that I had ordered from Penney's on line to exchange. They were the same size as I always wear but they were so tight, I could hardly stand them. I had sent for three pair, 2 beige and 1 black. The beige pairs fit perfectly (meaning not perfect like on a model, but perfect for my lumps and bulges). Donna had wore them to work Wednesday because she was sure she could wear them but they were tight on her too. Finally, when she got home she measured them. The pants were too narrow in the upper legs. They were just cut wrong. We had gone to Penney's earlier so I could buy some more black pants and Donna hadn't tried mine on yet and it wasn't until she wore them to school that day that she measured them. I had bought 2 sweaters along with the new black pants I bought. When we went to exchange the pants Friday, I should have known better than to go into the store because I ended up buying another sweater. I love sweaters for winter. Unless it is extremely cold, I usually don't wear a coat, just a sweater over my top.

I guess that takes me up to today, October 31st. The day that I am no longer a "hostage". I am back in Renton now. I had a wonderful time. It is always great to be with family. I do miss Donna not being close by and I am glad I can spend time with her and Laif. Then this afternoon Daryl, Rachel and Avery came over to visit. They are such a nice little family. Erik went to Kyle's house to hang out for Halloween and help Kyle hand out candy for the Trick or Treaters. I still am trying to get used to Erik taking off in his car and going places by himself. Oh, yes, Debbie and Kent have gone out to eat and shop and I am left with handing out candy to Trick or Treaters. I really don't think it will be a problem. They have been gone about an hour and no one has come yet but the night is young so maybe someone will come, who knows.

Well, now that I have caught you up on my exciting life, I am going to go eat my dinner. Farewell for now.