sister trip to Seattle - September 2009

Thought I'd share some of the 500+ pictures from my trip to visit my sister in September 2009.  Geez Louise, it took me long enough to get these posted!!

First of all, it is quite a feat of coordination from loved ones to allow me to get away, so a huge thank you goes to them...I love you!!  So a week before I was scheduled to leave, Michael gets sick.  I take him to the doctors and it's just a cold that we need to ride out.  No big deal.  But then he's home all week and not getting better...all that coordination just flew out the window and now I have to ask my m-i-l and mom if they still want to watch Michael while he's sick (G couldn't take off work and he had a golf tournament that weekend).  They said yes, whew!  I'm good to go again.  On Thursday, THE day, I was due to fly out, Michael is still not better and seems even a little worse.  Quick call to the doctor who wants to see him to make sure it's not developing into something else, like pneumonia.  I have my m-i-l follow us to the doctors; his appointment is at 11:00am and I need to be at the airport by 11:30am which is...30 minutes away.  Needless to say, I am torn....do I leave my poor, sick little boy in the waiting room?  He needs me, I can't be so selfish and leave him.  My m-i-l told me that Michael would be fine and that I NEEDED to go. One of those mommy breaks you take so that you can be a better mom and wife.  So I left.  And I cried all the way to the airport.  While boo-hooing, M's doctor left me a voice mail that said Michael was fine and she gave a prescription to grandma for antibiotics to fill if he's not better in 2-3 more days (I don't think we had to fill it).  What a wonderful doctor to call and tell me that.  While waiting for the plane, I called my m-i-l to see how M was doing, and I'm not lying....I heard him laughing and playing with one of his favorite toys in the background.  He was fine.  She was fine.  Everything was fine.  And that made me feel....a little better (did you think I was going to say fine?) and the "sup-sups" started to subside.  I could finally breathe.  And I started to relax a little and look forward to some much needed me time.

On Friday, Keni and I went on a little hike near her house and then got massages (thanks Josh!).  Then we went shopping with our bday money (thanks Kita and Keni!!).  You know, there's nothing better than shopping with someone that will be totally honest with you when trying on clothes - for me, my sister is that person.  After shopping, we headed to The Melting Pot, in Tacoma, for happy hour....and a little bit of heaven for my taste buds.  Oh yum!!  Once back home, we got our gear lined up for our backpacking/overnight trip on the WA coast and then hung out in their hot tub until bed time.

On Saturday, we met Keni's friend, Noelle, bright and early at McD's and then the three of us took off for our girl adventure.  We basically did an entire loop driving around the Olympic National Park.  I think it's the 101, the only road that goes around the park.  It rained on the way there, as well as the first part of the rainforest hike...go figure, it rained in the rainforest.  :)  But the rain stayed away for the rest of the hike.

We head straight to our destination:  our plan is to hike the 9.2 mile Lake Ozette Loop.  The hike is basically a triangle:  from Lake Ozette 3 miles through a rainforest that comes out at Sand Point; then 3 miles along the rugged, rocky, log-strewn beach to Cape Alava; then 3 miles back through the rainforest to Lake Ozette.

(photo credit to random stranger)

Keni timed the hike with the tide tables so that we could hike along the coast w/o worrying about scrambling for higher ground.  She also timed it so that we would finish the first rainforest leg and the entire beach leg just in time to sit on the beach, have some snackies and wine, and watch the sunset.  It was perfect and so amazingly beautiful!

It threatened to rain a couple of times on the beach hike (as it often does in the pacific northwest).

There's a place along the beach trail called Wedding Rocks that showcased some very cool petroglyphs.

(photo credit to Keni or Noelle, I don't remember)

Once the sun went down, we packed up and put our headlamps on so we could hike the remaining 3 miles through the rainforest in the dark.  It was crazy (but we did it safely)!  Part way through the night hike, we turned off our lights and stared up at the clear night sky and gazed at the Milky Way.

 (photo credit for one of those sunsets to Keni-I think one was hers, one was mine)

(photo credit to Keni)

This bridge was a little scary to cross in the dark, along with fear of being eaten by bears or cats or other fearsome creatures on the way back.

 (photo credit to Keni)


I was SOOOO glad to finish the hike!  :)  I look exhausted while Noelle looks like she was just getting started!  That is so not fair.

(photo credit to Keni)


Once we made it back to the car, we headed to our hotel in Forks.  Forks used to be a logging town, but is now famously known as the home of Bella from the Twilight books.  There were tons of kitschy souvenirs and tours and "No Vampires Allowed" signs throughout Forks.

For breakfast, our hotel recommended a diner in La Push (home of Jacob, the werewolf, from the Quilette tribe in the Twilight series).  The diner was pretty empty, but the food and the views were uh-mazing.

Here we are at First Beach in La Push, WA (just down from the diner).

(photo credit to random passerby)



La Push is managed by the Quileute Indian tribe and we had a lovely conversation with a mom (Lummi) and daughter (Kim) selling woolen souvenirs.

(photo credit to Keni)


While Lummi knitted the earflaps onto Michael's wool hat (a bear, which means strength), we talked about what the town and the kids thought of the Twilight books.

They said that the boys are all growing their hair longer like Jacob's and they've had some craziness when the film crews were in town...bombarded by fans...they even had to set up a decoy film location.  One of the actors (not Jacob or Edward) even did a seminar at their youth center for the local kids about acting.

They also pointed to an island just off shore (in the picture below, on the left) and told us that in the old days, if any enemies or unidentified people were spotted in the water, the women and children would escape/hideout on the giant sea stack/island on First Beach using secret passageways.

These pictures are on the drive back to Keni's house.

(photo credit to some random passersby that took multiple pictures of Keni's butt as she climbed to the top of the sign)

Absolutely breathtaking views everywhere and a fab-u-lous sister trip!!!   :)

flat stanley

Michael's 3rd grade class just finished up a unit in Social Studies about communities and they topped it off by sending a Flat Stanley out for an adventure in a different community than ours.

A couple of weeks ago, Michael sent his Flat Stanley to visit Uncle Josh, Aunt Keni and cousin Gabby in Washington.  Flat Stanley arrived back at school on Friday with a wonderful letter and pictures of his adventures.

Here is Stanley's story (using pictures of Keni's pictures):

"Hi Michael!

I had fun in Washington visiting your Uncle Josh, Aunt Keni, and cousin Gabby.  They live in Gig Harbor, a little fishing village near Seattle.

The first thing we did was visit Starbucks, because that is where everyone in the Pacific Northwest goes.

The next thing I did was visit the marina in Gig Harbor (with Gabby).  There were many boats.

I was especially excited to see a great blue heron! (just above Stanley's head)

I was hoping to see Mt. Rainier during my visit, but it was too cloudy and rainy every day.  It rains a lot there.

I can't wait to go back and visit again.  Hopefully you will come with me!

Sincerely,
Flat Stanley"

What a great adventure!  Thanks for playing along Keni, Josh and Gabby....we definitely can't wait to see you again!  :)

have you ever had one of those days?

I need to vent a little bit because yesterday was just a completely off day.  I thought that if I shared my day with you, it might help me feel better (or at least help you feel better about your day).  It was pajama day at school and Michael was dressed in his favorite Buzz Lightyear pj's, but 5 minutes before the bus came, he peed through his diaper (little item #1).  So I did a quick change to just regular pj's of boxer shorts and an undershirt (I thought it would be too warm to wear his flannel lounge pants).  He seemed very excited and was acting so silly wearing pj's to school.  :)   Happy boy!

I had to pick M up early from school to take him to a doctor's appointment and when we were leaving school, I heard that there were some comments about him not being dressed appropriately, that I sent him to school in his underwear (little item #2).  Are you kidding me? So now I'm feeling awful because I know that I wouldn't purposefully send him to school in just underwear, how could they think that?  To me, his diaper would be considered underwear and the boxers would simply be pajama bottoms/shorts.  But whatever.  Not really a big deal, but that just annoyed me.

On the way to the appointment, Michael dropped a deuce not even 15 minutes into our 45 minute ride to the hospital (little item #3...or should this be listed as big #2??  haha!).  Oh, dear Lord the smell...I found myself trying to position the car behind big ol' work trucks just so the smell of exhaust would mask the other smell.  I had to change M in the back of my SUV in the parking lot of the hospital, which sounds like an awful thing to do, but it SO much better than lying him down on the bathroom floor (eeeww, that's nasty) because he's way too tall for the little fold out baby changing tables.

We check in for his 3:30 appointment and wait.  And wait.  And wait.  At 4:00pm, they finally put us in a room to wait.  And wait.  And...you guessed it, wait some more (little item # 4).  At 4:30, we are taken for his x-rays (scoliosis checkup) and as soon as we step into the room, Michael's nose starts bleeding.  OMG, he does not do well with this situation AT ALL (little item #5).  I'm trying to pinch his nose to stop the bleeding, which is now all over him, me, the xray table, the floor, etc.  The x-ray technician is kind of freaking out, asking ME what she should do...well some tissues would be a great help (duh!).  It takes a little while to get it to stop bleeding (which is kind of normal for him), but x-ray tech girl pages for a nurse because it seems like way too much blood to her.  By the time the nurse gets to the room, the bloody nose has stopped and the nurse doesn't seem too concerned, but is empathetic and helpful with getting wet towels for the clean up.  By now though, poor M is just sobbing over the whole thing and can't/won't hold still for the x-rays.  It takes 2 of us to hold him in position and he fights us because he is just so DONE.  We finally get 2 good pictures and head back to the little room around 5:00pm....to wait for the doctor.  While waiting, M's allergies really start to aggravate his eyes and they turn redder and swell (little item #6).

We've been waiting for so long and I have run out of things to keep him entertained, but he takes an interest in an I Spy picture hanging low on the office wall.  I squat down in front of the picture and he sits on one of my legs so we can look at the picture together, all snuggly.  He's finally smiling and laughing, but he gets too excited with his legs, bouncing and kicking, and pushes too hard against the wall which causes me to lose my balance and fall backwards.  I try to take the brunt of the fall and cocoon him, but he ended up with a little bruise on his elbow (little item #7).  He was more scared than hurt, thank goodness, and didn't cry at all.

So by the time the doctor gets to us at 5:45pm (little item #8, okay that's not a little item for me, that's a BIG item--over 2 hrs waiting for a scheduled appointment?!? It's not like he's an OB or anything).  Anyway, the doctor walks in to see M wearing his pj's (or underwear, depending on your point of view), covered in blood, with red swollen eyes, a bruise on his elbow and irritated as all get out because on top of all that's gone on, it's also close to dinner time.  Then there's me (the responsible adult) also covered in blood, a bruise on my elbow and knot on the back of my head, and wild looking hair that probably matched the crazy in my eyes.  I'm definitely going for Mother of the Year....I'm surprised they didn't call CPS.  This appointment for 2 simple x-rays took 2-1/2 freakin' hours!  Not counting the 45 minutes travel time there and back.

Today wasn't much better because we were at a funeral for a dear, dear family member. Then, when Michael got off the bus this afternoon, he had a seizure.  Seizures make him sleep, which means he just a seizure nap and will be up until the wee hours of the morning (1:00am this time).  But tomorrow's gonna be great, I just know it!  I mean, it has to be better, right?  You've had these kind of days too, haven't you?  Please tell me I'm not alone!

If you're still here, thanks for reading all the way to the end.  And thanks for letting me vent....I really do feel better now.  You're the best listeners ever!  :)

'round here

Spring has sprung and the weather has been gorgeous! Everything is growing and coming back to life.  Time to have the windows wide open, do some yard work, kick my mulch addiction into gear and get my flowers from the local greenhouse.  While mowing the other day, I counted 7 bird nests.  Easy to guess what kind of birdies these eggs belong to:

I couldn't wait to get started planting and I purchased quite a few herbs (fresh herbs are so expensive at the store) a couple of weeks ago.  I only had to bring them inside a couple of times because of frost and freeze warnings.  We've already used the herbs in quite a few meals.  There's something kinda cool about being able to open up the back door to pick fresh ingredients for dinner.

(cilantro, rosemary, sage, oregano, basil, a tomato plant, and green onions are around the corner)


Still working on cleaning and organizing my office space, but it's hard to make any progress with my mess maker around.  :) 

(Yes, that's the keyboard he ripped out of the computer, that almost fell off the desk--he has a thing for keyboards, carries them around the house.)

I've almost made enough money selling my precious goods on eBay to cover my CS4/CS5 Photoshop purchase-YEA!!!  So all of the pics I've been posting since October have been SOOC (thank goodness for the "vivid" feature on my Nikon).  I cannot wait until the software arrives!

johnny marzetti

Have you heard of Johnny Marzetti? I think it might be a midwestern dish, but thought I'd ask if others outside of the midwest have heard of this casserole dish that was so popular when I was growing up.

This recipe was originally created in the 1940s by the owner of Marzetti's Restaurant in downtown Columbus, Ohio and was named after his brother.

Here is the original recipe:

3 Tbs olive oil

1 large onion chopped

¾ lb mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

2 lbs lean ground beef

3 ½ cups tomato sauce

1 ½ lbs cheddar cheese, shredded

1 lb elbow macaroni, cooked and drained

In skillet, saute onion in oil until limp, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and fry until juices are released, about 5 minutes. Add beef and cook, stirring, breaking up clumps, until no longer red. Remove from heat and mix in tomato sauce and all but 1 cup of cheese.Transfer to two greased 11 X 14 baking dishes and add macaroni. Toss gently to mix. Scatter remaining cheese on top. Bake, uncovered, in 350° oven until browned and bubbling for 35 to 40 minutes. Serving Size - 10-12.
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Now when I made this, I changed it up a bit: for starters I don't care for mushrooms, so I left those out. Secondly, that seemed like an awful lot of onions for Gary, so I didn't put in as much. I also noticed that there were no other spices/flavoring other than the onion, so I used flavored diced tomatoes. It also made 2 pans, so I halved the recipe except for the sauce, we like it saucy (although, I could have made 2 pans...1 for dinner that night and 1 for the freezer to heat and eat later). So here's how I made it (and we thought it was pretty GOOD):

1 small onion, chopped

1 lb lean ground beef

3 ½ cups tomato sauce
1 can (15 oz) fire roasted diced toms

1 ½ lbs cheddar cheese, shredded

8 oz elbow macaroni, cooked and drained

In skillet, cook beef, stirring, breaking up clumps, until no longer red and drain. Add onions and cook for a couple more minutes. Remove from heat and mix in tomato sauce, diced fire roasted toms, and all but 2 cups of cheese.

Transfer to greased/sprayed 9 x 13 baking dish and add macaroni. Toss gently to mix. Scatter remaining cheese on top. Bake, uncovered, in 350° oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until browned and bubbling.  Yummeee!  I hope you like it too.  :)

catching up

This post used to be titled, "okay, enough snow already"...but I waited so long to add the pictures that the snow is now completely melted and long gone!  I procrastinated so long that the season has changed!
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We got some pretty serious snowfall here over the weekend (in February).  We shoveled and shoveled like crazy.  Sore arms, shoulders, backs.  G's parents told us we could borrow their snowblower, but the snow was initially predicted to be around 4-6", maybe even 8", maybe mixed with rain, maybe this, maybe that, blah, blah, blah.  Nah, we didn't need their snowblower, we could handle 6" of snow.  Well, it kept snowing and snowing and it we got about 16" or so.

As usual, Michael enjoyed playing in the snow.  Scooting, hopping, lying in the snow, making snoring sounds, scooping up snow and letting it fall, and having so much fun.

The snow was so deep that when he was scooting through the yard on his hands and knees, his arms would sink so far down into the snow that his face was almost buried.

I was surprised his mittens stayed on throughout it all - those are usually the first to go.  This time it was one of his boots that decided to be pesky and kept coming off.

The city plows came down our street, but plowed only enough for one lane.  Today, the bus was slip-sliding around on the snow plow drifts in the road.  (BTW, Michael is 51" tall...so that kind of gives you an idea how tall the snow is in this picture.)

There's more snow coming Tuesday and Wednesday that is supposed to bring another 6-9".






































Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal except that I am supposed to leave for Seattle on Wednesday afternoon (gotta get outta this snow!).  Fingers are crossed that I still get to have my little weekend getaway (updated to say that I did make it out of Columbus for my trip, but had to spend the night in Chicago on the way home because the Columbus airport got snowed in-stupid snow).

I'm a winner...kinda sort of...but not really

I submitted a photograph for a little contest that Canon had back in January.  I received an email a few weeks ago that my photo was one of the 9 first place winners (1 grand prize and 9 first places)!  How cool is THAT?!?!

I'd guesstimate that it was a prize package worth about $600 that included a Canon Inkjet Office All-In-One wireless printer, as well as a Canon PowerShot A495 point and shoot camera, a beautiful leather carry-on/laptop bag (it has that wonderful new leather smell, mmmm) and a few other goodies.

The two large prize boxes arrived a couple of days ago and I was beyond excited about all the loot.

Before you leave a congratulatory comment or pat me on the back for having such great photography skills, I should mention that the contest wasn't really based on skills.  It was based on what was depicted in the photo.  You see, it was a contest for having the most unorganized home office.  Talk about being humiliated and embarrassed.  At least it was the first time I could tell my husband that being unorganized paid off for once, right?

Oh yeah - the other goodies that were included?  A new Franklin Planner portfolio and 2010 refill packages, along with 4 organizing books.  I am full of hope (or full of something) that I will have a wonderful "after" picture to show you.  But for now, here is the prize-winning "before" picture.  Please don't judge.

In the meantime, I'll be selling all my crap precious goods on eBay.