Warm sunshine----here we come!

I cannot believe it is almost time for our trip. We will be leaving Friday morning, December 11th to fly to Orlando and spend a week at Disneyworld. I have never been there so this will be another new adventure for me. Donna, Debbie and I are going. Debbie is very ready to go. She has been in Detroit for almost a week and it is cold there. Debbie will be home Wednesday, the ninth, and will have just one day before we leave. Donna is coming over on Thursday evening and Laif will be taking us to the airport Friday morning.

In the meantime, I am dealing with the cold weather here. There isn't a lot to complain about. It is very cold but it is sunny and no ice on the streets. Erik and I went to Safeway this afternoon so he could help me with my bags.

I have been mostly hibernating in my room. I keep the door closed and I am very comfy. I have been using the exercise equipment but my legs still feel a little stiff. I wear sweaters over my tops usually from November to May. I was counting my sweaters today. I have 14 sweaters and 3 sweater sets. I can't think of a good reason that I should have that many. I just keep accumulating them. Some are old, some are new. I can't seem to get rid of the old ones when I get new ones.

Winter is coming--or--is it already here?

I took these pictures early this morning. The sky was so clear and cold with the moon shining down on the cold earth. I don't know if you can tell very well about the picture with the cars. The whole driveway looked like a skating arena. Apparently it is going to get colder yet for a few days.

Friday was an interesting day. First of all when Erik started to school, he got a flat tire. Fortunately he was able to get into the library parking lot so walked home and used his mom's car to go to school. After school he changed the tire and got the car home. Erik is turning into a very capable young man.

Donna and Laif came over late Friday afternoon so we could go to the Victorian Christmas in Puyallup. It was nice to look at all the booths and the Christmas decorations. Donna finally bought the iron she has been wanting for a long time. We met Kyle at Best Buy because Laif is thinking about getting a computer. We then went to Taco Delmar for a light dinner. On the way to the Victorian Country Christmas, Donna and I were working on our list of items we need to take to our trip to Disneyworld. It was really nice of Donna and Laif to take me to Puyallup last night. I started coughing a lot last night for some unknown reason. Today I seem to be OK. My theory is that I am allergic to winter.

Trip to Lake Stevens

I am in a better mood today. The note on my blog from Rachel and the phone calls from Michael and Donna really cheered me up. I enjoyed the sunshine today. I always feel better on sunny days. I got a Pedicure today too. I don't know for sure how that works but it always makes me feel better.



David took us to Lake Stevens the day after Thanksgiving so that I could visit my sister, Elsie. I had not seen her for a long time. We were both so happy to see each other. Elsie is my only sister. She is 80. Our mother and dad only had us two girls. Elsie has 5 children and I have 7. Elsie did have a baby boy that only lived a few minutes. Elsie lives in a very nice Assisted Living Center in Lake Stevens called Ashley Pointe. She seems very happy there. Elsie has a studio apt. but it is roomy enough for one person. She has her meals in the dining room.

Elsie's room has a microwave, refrigerator and sink. On the right is her bed and racks of yarn.

Elsie has a brand new laptop but has never used it. Elsie has never used any computer. Karl, my nephew, is trying to explain to her how to use it.
Ashley Pointe does not give computer lessons.

Above are the finger puppets. Elsie has been making them by the hundreds for years. Elsie said that she sold enough puppets this year to pay two months rent. Her rent is $2500. a month so that is very good. She mainly sells them at craft shows and her kids help her set up.

I hope Elsie will work with her computer and at least e-mail. Karl helped her set up her e-mail account. She does have internet--Net Zero, which is dial up. Karl explained how she can use the Wi-Fi at the library.

Another picture of her room. She has more animals on her bed than I do. Should I be jealous?

Elsie in her easy chair. Behind her easy chair is her bathroom. Elsie uses her cane for getting around in her room. The rest of the time she has to use her walker. Elsie has Osteoporosis. She is bent over much more than the last time I saw her. Elsie has a drawer with a lot of medicines. She has a chart that she keeps track of everything. Elsie was a registered nurse when she was younger. She was a nurse when the nurses wore the white caps and uniforms. Elsie says she takes 5 different kinds of medicine for her high blood pressure.

When I was pregnant with Diane, my dad and mom bought a shoe repair shop with living quarters in Stanwood. I went up there a couple of times to visit. My dad not only repaired shoes, he actually made shoes and boots. My mother said he made all our baby shoes. When they lived in Helena, Montana he made boots for the Governor and others in the Capitol. He even made boots for the Cooper family who had a large ranch there. He knew Gary Cooper when he was a boy. My parents only lived in Stanwood a couple of years. The last year the shop flooded. Not so bad they couldn't live in but there was a lot of water damage. The story I didn't know was the one Elsie told me when we saw her after Thanksgiving. My dad had made a pet of a field mouse and every day he fed the mouse cheese and raisins. The mouse got so friendly that my dad was able to teach him to beg for the food. The year it flooded the mouse disappeared. Also my mother was storing some books for my sister and they were water damaged. After they sold the shop, they moved back to Everett and built the house that you older kids remember with the steep front yard that you used to roll down.

This is a picture of my neice, Susan, and another picture of Karl.

Thanksgiving Day

Just a few pictures I took at Thanksgiving. Hazel really attached herself to David. I love the picture of Noah. Donna looks very happy entertaining for Thanksgiving and the boys at the table are really enjoying themselves.

Families are wonderful. I did enjoy myself very much.

Today I am in a strange mood. I have been trying not to cry all morning. It can't be menopause. I don't know whether it is the letdown from Thanksgiving or David going back to Alaska or whether I am feeling sad about Christmas. Christmas is hard.

I really do have nothing to feel sad about. All my children are alive and well. We make our own happiness. I also having been thinking this morning of the 4 police officers that were killed and what a hard time it will be for their families this Holiday season.

I just was in such a sad mood all morning that I thought if I sat down and wrote out some of my thoughts I would feel better and I think I do. I did get my laundry done and the kitchen cleaned up this morning so that helped a little. I don't know how the top of the stove gets so dirty and I cleaned the Microwave too. I am not complaining, I love working in the kitchen.

I am so glad that Debbie and Kent took me to the play Erik was in at the Green River Community College. It was a great play and Erik played his part so well.

Tomorrow I will try to be in a better mood and put some pictures of my sister on and tell you a story about my dad I didn't know.

Catching up with blogging

When we were driving through Port Townsend, I took this picture. There are so many beautiful homes in Port Townsend.

Beautiful sunrise from the Donna and laif's deck in Sequim. Steven and I were both out early taking pictures of the spectacular view. I notice I have not written anything on my blog since the 17th. I have been busy gadding around with David in my car. Debbie picked David up on the 20th after his meetings. Saturday, the 21st , my chaffeur, David,drove us to Graham to see Dan and Heidi. Sunday we went to Tacoma to see Darrell. Richard came to our house a couple of times after work to see David. Monday morning we took off for Sequim. We went to see a couple of David's friends that live in Port Townsend. We also got a chance to see Marge Otte on Wednesday. We just had a nice time driving around. I had my GPS in my car, which was very helpful finding places we wanted to go to. I just love riding around in the car. It is a lot more fun when someone else is driving.

I will put some more on my blog tomorrow.

Visitor from the North Country

Picture I took of David when I was in Ketchikan last May. My oldest son, David, came in from Ketchikan, Alaska last night. Debbie and I went to Sea-Tac Airport to pick him up. We went to the Southcenter Mall to eat. David had not seen southcenter (Westfield) since it was remodeled. We took him to the hotel he is staying at. He is on a business trip and has meetings Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. We will pick him up Thursday evening and he will be staying with us until after Thanksgiving. We will be going to Donna and Laif's for Thanksgiving. It so nice that David can spend a few days with us.

The weather was absolutely horrible last night. Heavy rain, wind and terrible traffic. I did not worry. Debbie is a very good driver.

Avery's First Birthday

The Birthday Girl. Avery is so cute walking around. Avery opening presents with Tyler's help.

Everyone watching Avery with her cake.

Nice picture of Daryl and Grandma Diane holding Avery and the nice kitty watching everything.

Yesterday was Avery's First birthday and I was lucky to be invited. To start with it was an absolutely beautiful day with lots of sunshine. Diane picked me in the morning. We went shopping and had lunch. Then we went to Daryl and Rachel's house so Diane could help Daryl with the project he is working on. Rachel had made a cute little Chocolate cake for Avery. I am sure you will see pictures of that on their blog. Rachel took me to Federal Way so that she could buy cupcakes for the "grown-ups". She went to the Cold Stone Creamery to buy them. I had never had any of those Icecream cupcakes before. They were just so yummy. Diane brought me home about 7:30 pm. She came in for a few minutes because she hadn't been over to see Debbie's new kitchen yet. Debbie has been gone all week for her work.

Anyway, I had a great day. I have not had a chance to spend a day with Diane for a long time.