*Opens different door that has old, peeling red paint on it and murmurs*
Oh my God. I guess I'm not the only one.
*Squints into Dark, Smoky bar and sees Mr. Blog and walks
over to his rickety table and sits on a tippy old chair*
This is different Mr. Blog. What is this place?
*listens to his story*
I can't believe you would ever come to a place like this but I have
heard that well-educated people with jobs and money like to "slum it."
It is so weird to see dozens of people in pajamas in the middle of the day.
*Looks at table then lights a Salem light and gulps her 7 7.*
Bleh, that is awful. I don't even drink or smoke but I like it.
*Looks at raised platform and hears old black men singing the blues*
"No job, no money-
dirty looks
from my honey"
Wow Mr. Blog. I could have written that song.
Funny how this makes me feel better.
Like I'm not alone in my joblessness and total despair.
I feel less alone and pathetic and at least we went somewhere.
Beats staying at home in our pajamas.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
4/11/2010 Crying in Rite Aid & BUMC Tea
*Skips in merrily*
Ahhh, I feel so much better today.
Right before I woke up yesterday I had this horrible nightmare.
I was sitting at the dining room table with three checkbook
registers and all of our accounts were overdrawn by $500.00.
I woke up and I was sweating and panting I was so upset.
Then I realized, yes, I DON'T have a full time job.
I think it was taking the census taker job test that triggered it.
I was so miserable that I could barely jump around
with my Jane Fonda tape and dress myself by noon.
The kids were watching TV downstairs and Terry was at work
so I had to think about what to do to cheer up and I
decided that doing something nice for someone else usually worked.
But I was so cold and tired and depressed that
I wanted to go back to bed.
I put on my batik travel outfit and white loafers
and went to Rite Aid and tried to make reprints
of the BUMC women's retreat to take to the tea.
I was so tired I couldn't think straight and I only had
twenty dollars Terry left so I could go to the tea and
I goofed up and tried to cancel the first order
and only use my $3.99 coupon.
Well, seventy pictures got printed and I told the
young man I could only afford the coupon special
and that he'd have to throw away my mistakes and he said,
"I can't see doing that."
Well, we walked up front and he asked Michelle
what to do and she just looked at my sad face and said,
"Let her keep the mistake and use the coupon."
I got all choked up that she was kind to me and
paid as fast as I could because my eyes started leaking
at her kindness. I was just overwhelmed that as
useless as I felt that anyone could value me at all.
She was admiring my off-white mohair
mushroom hat from Target a few years ago
and when mummy died and I had her matching hat so
I gave her mine and kept mummy's hat for me.
The Kenmore Rite Aid has the nicest employees in the world!
When Mabel locked her keys in her car a few months ago
in their parking lot, Ronnie and Dave dashed her to
my house so I could get the new locksmith Christopher,
to get into her car in the parking lot.
She had forgotten where her extra set of keys were
and I looked everywhere in her house and never found it
but at eighty-nine that is to be expected.
So I drove up to the church for the BUMC tea
and sat with three nice ladies I had seen but not met before
and then Eleanor Green came in and sat next to me.
I pretended she was my grandmother and doted on her
and held her hand and she liked that.
WOW. When it comes to food those church ladies
DO NOT MESS AROUND!
I was so stunned at the non-stop chow that for a minute
I thought I had died and gone to heaven.
I have gone back to water for dinner and one thousand calories
a day so you can just imagine how much I loved all those
tiny tea-sandwiches, and salad and scones with that lemon stuff
and an entire tray of itsy bitsy cookies and miniature cupcakes.
YUM.
Well, I was happy that my church retreat carpool partner
Lynn, was the ring-leader for this big do.
She got right up there at the microphone and talked
about the history of the tea and how it is a mission fund-raiser.
I had thought about going to the tea for a decade but I always
thought that Pam and I would be doing all that stuff together
as old ladies. What a huge disappointment she has turned out
to be as a church buddy. And she found that church for us too!
Then she pulled her typical puny, weird crap and didn't
want to go because when she was sick I kept going without her
and started knowing more people and when she got better and came
back they said hi to me by name. Well, duh, Mr. Blog.
I wear my name tag!
Burns my butt that she can't just ever put my feelings
first and go to church with me. Like it's expensive or something. UGH!
So anyway, besides seeing Lynn from the retreat, I saw Jen,
Jeanne and Lorinda and Kathy Baker. I gave Kathy all the
reprints from the retreat because I didn't see her taking any
pictures there and she was the ring-leader of that gig.
I had a set for Pastor Laura with a thank you card for the
"Holding it All Together" seminar but she wasn't there so
I left it on the desk in the office.
I had the cutest close-up of her and Lynn.
I don't envy her job.
Mom was married to Lyle for many decades
and when I visited them in Pocatello, Colville, Malta and Orem,
there were sad jobs as part of that job. We'd take communion
to nursing homes and Lyle had to do memorials and things like that
and help with the saddest of sad times for people that believed.
Lynn introduced the guest speaker, master gardener
Barbara Flynn and she gave a hysterically funny
demonstration of potting flowers.
Everyone was highly interested and some people took notes.
I can barely dress myself these days so I don't want plants.
I tried to garden for years and years and no one would help
pull weeds or water so I ripped out my garden and put in a pool!
Smartest thing I ever did.
I had signed up for clean up after the tea so I started
racking up the chairs. Felt like I was back at scouts.
If I had a dime for every chair I'd racked up after
community events as a scout leader for ten years
I'd be a millionaire!
I asked Kathy Baker what we were raising funds for with
the tea party price and she told me it was for mission work.
I thought twelve dollars for tea was a fortune and I was happy
to hear that. I told her I wanted to go to Botswana and she said
to talk to Kristen because she went to Africa twice on missions!
Well, when I was storing the tiny topiary centerpieces she
was in the back room making some dough stuff in a big
bowl and I asked her about it and she said it was very
interesting and that I needed to go to United Methodist
website and surf around there.
We got that social hall all lickety-splitted up and
I met a nice lady named, bleh, starts with a G or J
and helped her carry her deceased aunts tea cups out to her car.
Then I went to the Kenmore Grocery Outlet Grand opening sale.
It had finally warmed up, much to my surprise, because it was
twenty-eight degrees when I got up and was hot and sunny.
The new store is BEAUTIFUL Mr. Blog and I ran into
Laurie Sperry right off the bat. I love her. She is just
a breath of fresh air on feet as far as I'm concerned.
I can't believe she can sit through those long, boring
tedious city council meetings! Ugh. I could never do that!
She had what I thought was a giant camping chair in her cart
and when I asked her about it she said it was a canopy.
She showed it to me and I was stunned because it is
EXACTLY what I need for my new career as a show vendor!
It is a ten by ten foot pop-up canopy with a
delightfully attractive navy blue fabric nylon top!!!
And get this Mr. Blog! They are only $49.99!
I am praying so hard there are some left there payday!
Laurie showed me that it comes with a cute stuff bag on wheels.
She is so nice.
I entered the drawing for free groceries for a year
and did a little prayer about that since the teens are eating us
out of house and home.
When I went outside, I was admiring the fruit display and told
the employee I loved the new store and needed to send my son
over to get a job and he said, "Send him over!"
Then I went to the new Kenmore Dollar Tree store and ran
into Laurie again and invited her to go look at the trail I
want improved and she said she'd like that so we wrote
out a rain-check for a coffee trail investigation date.
When I got home I decided to mail Suzanne and Auntie Jean
and Heidi and Cousin Carolyn letters with some Easter pictures
but I got distracted with the United Methodist Mission website
and then Teddy wanted to watch The Matrix with me.
It was my favorite movie when it came out and I hadn't watched
it for twenty years. I love the cool special effects but now that
I'm older it gave me nightmares. Everything gives me nightmares!
Hahahahha. Brenny called right after I went to bed and filled
me in on Tony and Mel's wedding. It stopped pouring right
before the wedding. Thank God since it was outside.
She told me Tom is taking off for two weeks to Arizona to learn
how to install solar panels and she invited me out.
Well, that cheered me up considerably but I told her
Terry wouldn't send me again after sending me twice in six months.
She said she might buy me a ticket and I told her I'm in.
She has bought me tickets many times in the past that I
paid back but I owe too much cash on my business to do that.
I think she probably will and I'll find out later today.
Cheers me up thinking about it.
No such thing as too much Hawaii.
Ahhh, I feel so much better today.
Right before I woke up yesterday I had this horrible nightmare.
I was sitting at the dining room table with three checkbook
registers and all of our accounts were overdrawn by $500.00.
I woke up and I was sweating and panting I was so upset.
Then I realized, yes, I DON'T have a full time job.
I think it was taking the census taker job test that triggered it.
I was so miserable that I could barely jump around
with my Jane Fonda tape and dress myself by noon.
The kids were watching TV downstairs and Terry was at work
so I had to think about what to do to cheer up and I
decided that doing something nice for someone else usually worked.
But I was so cold and tired and depressed that
I wanted to go back to bed.
I put on my batik travel outfit and white loafers
and went to Rite Aid and tried to make reprints
of the BUMC women's retreat to take to the tea.
I was so tired I couldn't think straight and I only had
twenty dollars Terry left so I could go to the tea and
I goofed up and tried to cancel the first order
and only use my $3.99 coupon.
Well, seventy pictures got printed and I told the
young man I could only afford the coupon special
and that he'd have to throw away my mistakes and he said,
"I can't see doing that."
Well, we walked up front and he asked Michelle
what to do and she just looked at my sad face and said,
"Let her keep the mistake and use the coupon."
I got all choked up that she was kind to me and
paid as fast as I could because my eyes started leaking
at her kindness. I was just overwhelmed that as
useless as I felt that anyone could value me at all.
She was admiring my off-white mohair
mushroom hat from Target a few years ago
and when mummy died and I had her matching hat so
I gave her mine and kept mummy's hat for me.
The Kenmore Rite Aid has the nicest employees in the world!
When Mabel locked her keys in her car a few months ago
in their parking lot, Ronnie and Dave dashed her to
my house so I could get the new locksmith Christopher,
to get into her car in the parking lot.
She had forgotten where her extra set of keys were
and I looked everywhere in her house and never found it
but at eighty-nine that is to be expected.
So I drove up to the church for the BUMC tea
and sat with three nice ladies I had seen but not met before
and then Eleanor Green came in and sat next to me.
I pretended she was my grandmother and doted on her
and held her hand and she liked that.
WOW. When it comes to food those church ladies
DO NOT MESS AROUND!
I was so stunned at the non-stop chow that for a minute
I thought I had died and gone to heaven.
I have gone back to water for dinner and one thousand calories
a day so you can just imagine how much I loved all those
tiny tea-sandwiches, and salad and scones with that lemon stuff
and an entire tray of itsy bitsy cookies and miniature cupcakes.
YUM.
Well, I was happy that my church retreat carpool partner
Lynn, was the ring-leader for this big do.
She got right up there at the microphone and talked
about the history of the tea and how it is a mission fund-raiser.
I had thought about going to the tea for a decade but I always
thought that Pam and I would be doing all that stuff together
as old ladies. What a huge disappointment she has turned out
to be as a church buddy. And she found that church for us too!
Then she pulled her typical puny, weird crap and didn't
want to go because when she was sick I kept going without her
and started knowing more people and when she got better and came
back they said hi to me by name. Well, duh, Mr. Blog.
I wear my name tag!
Burns my butt that she can't just ever put my feelings
first and go to church with me. Like it's expensive or something. UGH!
So anyway, besides seeing Lynn from the retreat, I saw Jen,
Jeanne and Lorinda and Kathy Baker. I gave Kathy all the
reprints from the retreat because I didn't see her taking any
pictures there and she was the ring-leader of that gig.
I had a set for Pastor Laura with a thank you card for the
"Holding it All Together" seminar but she wasn't there so
I left it on the desk in the office.
I had the cutest close-up of her and Lynn.
I don't envy her job.
Mom was married to Lyle for many decades
and when I visited them in Pocatello, Colville, Malta and Orem,
there were sad jobs as part of that job. We'd take communion
to nursing homes and Lyle had to do memorials and things like that
and help with the saddest of sad times for people that believed.
Lynn introduced the guest speaker, master gardener
Barbara Flynn and she gave a hysterically funny
demonstration of potting flowers.
Everyone was highly interested and some people took notes.
I can barely dress myself these days so I don't want plants.
I tried to garden for years and years and no one would help
pull weeds or water so I ripped out my garden and put in a pool!
Smartest thing I ever did.
I had signed up for clean up after the tea so I started
racking up the chairs. Felt like I was back at scouts.
If I had a dime for every chair I'd racked up after
community events as a scout leader for ten years
I'd be a millionaire!
I asked Kathy Baker what we were raising funds for with
the tea party price and she told me it was for mission work.
I thought twelve dollars for tea was a fortune and I was happy
to hear that. I told her I wanted to go to Botswana and she said
to talk to Kristen because she went to Africa twice on missions!
Well, when I was storing the tiny topiary centerpieces she
was in the back room making some dough stuff in a big
bowl and I asked her about it and she said it was very
interesting and that I needed to go to United Methodist
website and surf around there.
We got that social hall all lickety-splitted up and
I met a nice lady named, bleh, starts with a G or J
and helped her carry her deceased aunts tea cups out to her car.
Then I went to the Kenmore Grocery Outlet Grand opening sale.
It had finally warmed up, much to my surprise, because it was
twenty-eight degrees when I got up and was hot and sunny.
The new store is BEAUTIFUL Mr. Blog and I ran into
Laurie Sperry right off the bat. I love her. She is just
a breath of fresh air on feet as far as I'm concerned.
I can't believe she can sit through those long, boring
tedious city council meetings! Ugh. I could never do that!
She had what I thought was a giant camping chair in her cart
and when I asked her about it she said it was a canopy.
She showed it to me and I was stunned because it is
EXACTLY what I need for my new career as a show vendor!
It is a ten by ten foot pop-up canopy with a
delightfully attractive navy blue fabric nylon top!!!
And get this Mr. Blog! They are only $49.99!
I am praying so hard there are some left there payday!
Laurie showed me that it comes with a cute stuff bag on wheels.
She is so nice.
I entered the drawing for free groceries for a year
and did a little prayer about that since the teens are eating us
out of house and home.
When I went outside, I was admiring the fruit display and told
the employee I loved the new store and needed to send my son
over to get a job and he said, "Send him over!"
Then I went to the new Kenmore Dollar Tree store and ran
into Laurie again and invited her to go look at the trail I
want improved and she said she'd like that so we wrote
out a rain-check for a coffee trail investigation date.
When I got home I decided to mail Suzanne and Auntie Jean
and Heidi and Cousin Carolyn letters with some Easter pictures
but I got distracted with the United Methodist Mission website
and then Teddy wanted to watch The Matrix with me.
It was my favorite movie when it came out and I hadn't watched
it for twenty years. I love the cool special effects but now that
I'm older it gave me nightmares. Everything gives me nightmares!
Hahahahha. Brenny called right after I went to bed and filled
me in on Tony and Mel's wedding. It stopped pouring right
before the wedding. Thank God since it was outside.
She told me Tom is taking off for two weeks to Arizona to learn
how to install solar panels and she invited me out.
Well, that cheered me up considerably but I told her
Terry wouldn't send me again after sending me twice in six months.
She said she might buy me a ticket and I told her I'm in.
She has bought me tickets many times in the past that I
paid back but I owe too much cash on my business to do that.
I think she probably will and I'll find out later today.
Cheers me up thinking about it.
No such thing as too much Hawaii.
Friday, April 9, 2010
4/9/10 Peace Corps, Bonnie Forsyth-Rygh, Census Job Test
*Bounces in merrily*
Ahhh, nothing like sleeping in your own bed Mr. Blog!
Did you miss me? Better grab your pillow for this one!
*Waits for him to lie down on opposite couch with gold lame pillow*
So when I left here two days ago, I went down the hall
to study how to help the orphans in Botswana and saw a notice
for the Peace Corps. I tried to apply online but it
didn't work so I went to their office and talked to a nice man.
I was sad to hear I didn't qualify to go because I wanted to go
in November. Turns out if you have kids under 18 you can't go.
The time commitment is twenty-seven months. Ugh.
My teen sons hate me because I take away their awful video
games at the drop of a hate and they would LOVE to get rid of me!
Terry thinks I am nothing more than a useless parasite so
why would I want to stay here?! Short answer: I DON'T.
I called Brenny and told her I am going to join Peace Corps in 2015
when Teddy finishes Inglemoor and you know what she said?!
She said she had wanted to join Peace Corps since 1970 or go
to India to help the late Mother Theresa. Well, I thought
about India and parts of Asia then and how they can't get birth control.
The Philippines is all Catholic too so they can't get birth control.
It's just not fair Mr. Blog!
I CAN'T STAND THE THOUGHT OF PEOPLE STARVING
OR NOT HAVING CLEAN WATER OR SHELTER!
Ugh. I need to calm down, *Breathes deeply*
So Brenny said she will go with me but wonders if her husband
might not like it. Terry wouldn't notice if I was gone for twenty-seven months.
I could like, mail a pot roast Express Mail once a month
and he'd be happy.
Brenda and I discussed at depth the fact that we both come from
families of long livers and that we'd still have one
more decade of good health and two more of crappy health
after we got home from Botswana.
We agreed we've had so much fun in this lifetime that if we did get murdered
over there for being the wrong color we didn't mind.
As long as we get to help and adopt the orphans
and make some new friends and avoid mamba snakes.
Doesn't that sound like a great plan Mr. Blog?
*Looks over and smiles at him sleeping*
So our new motto is BOB 2015!
Botswana Or Bust in 2015.
So I finished packing to go visit Bonnie and asked Terry for
five dollars in case I needed coffee on the way and do you know
what he said?! "You had coffee and you have gas, you don't need money."
I was so hopping mad!
If I had a job and he didn't I'd give him ANYTHING HE WANTED.
So I buzzed down to Third Place Books and picked up a
shopping bag of used books by Alexander McCall-Smith
and put it on the charge card.
I don't care about new clothes or shoes
but I would be Jonesing bad for some new books
by Alexander McCall-Smith if I didn't have plenty
stored up. Now I have two dozen that I'm saving
up for my half-sister Heidi. She said she has always wanted
to read them, that they were her grandmother's favorite
books. I'm saving them for her for Christmas!
So, I hopped on I-5 and drag-raced up to exit 210 and
followed my mail to the entrance of Eagle's Ridge.
Now Bonnie forgot to mention that it was a private development
with a big NO TRESPASSING violators will be prosecuted sign at the entrance.
I knew from being a mail carrier ten years that I had to go in.
So, off I went and winding around through the mansions was pleasant.
A big fat deer was wandering down the road
and it looked like Mount Rainier National Park
only you got to stay in a mansion instead of a tent!
Well, then of course I thought about the people
in Botswana that are dying from AIDS and the
one million orphans in Africa and I felt sad.
It just seemed wrong somehow,
I pushed my thoughts of social inequity aside and found
Bonnie's driveway and was hoping she remembered I was coming!
I pulled up to her house and she came out and I was so happy.
She gave me a tour of her home and it was so lovely.
The decor was inviting country-living style and I felt
at home right away. Both her kids moved out since they are
twenty eight and twenty six so she told me to take either room upstairs.
I chose the one facing east and it had a panoramic view of the
Stillaguamish River and Cascade Mountains and the snow
level was at near eye-level.
Her husband doesn't want her to work outside the home
but after looking at that huge monster of a house, I knew she had
more work in that house than ANY job could entail!
She felt like getting out so we climbed into her totally awesome
pick-up truck! It was so huge and high up it had ladders built
in and on the back were duel tires in case we go a flat.
And get this Mr. Blog! The seats had built in heaters!
Have you ever heard of such a thing? Wow, my butt
was so hot I could have easily hatched an egg.
We cruised out onto I-5 and headed north and were just
cruising and blabbing a mile a minute.
For a minute I thought we were heading to Canada!
Then she hopped off on 520 westbound and we went to the
Farmhouse cafe for lunch. It was packed so we sat at the counter
and they had the coolest high-backed swivel chairs I'd ever seen.
Right across from us was the pie cooler and on the counter
was a lemon meringue pie that hat foot high meringue!
Well, my jaw dropped to my knees when I saw that!
The waitress heard me gushing about it and grabbed it
and put it right in front of us and I was speechless.
I handed her my camera and she took our picture together
and guess what Mr. Blog? Bonnie's favorite sandwich is a
Rueben too and she was buying so that was what we had.
God they were good with a million fat French fries on the side.
I will be paying for that for weeks but it was so worth it.
I had seen many dirt fields on the way and commented that
my entire life I had wanted to see the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
but that it looked too late for it. She just agreed but guess what?
When we left the Farmhouse she turned a corner and
there they were! Tulips! Millions and millions of them!
Red, yellow, purple, yellow and red and yellow daffodils too!
We took a few pictures but they didn't come out very
well on my cheap camera. Not like Jeanette Eggerman's!
Man, she takes the best pictures in the world!
So we cruised on back to her pad and looked at our old year books
and she showed me some pictures of her late husband on Facebook
and I did remember him and all his cute brothers.
She married Kevin Brockman and he was a mean drunk.
She stayed with him twenty years until he died and then
she started over. She didn't even want to remarry after all
that happened but you know what? Her cousin set her up on a
blind date with Dave and they fell in love
and got married in 2006.
Now she is the Queen of Arlington and good for her!
She SO deserves it after what she went through with Kevin.
She was always so quiet and friendly in high school and just
adorable. Like a little blond doll. She's only five feet one inch.
When it got late in the day I asked her if she minded if I took
my census renumator practice test and she said I needed to.
I finished in thirty minutes but missed ten and went back
and realized I didn't read all the choices of possible answers.
I studied for ten minutes and then Dave got home
from his job at Boeing.
God, he is such a living doll and it is rare that such a kind
man was still single at fifty! No ex-wife with kids
to make Bonnie miserable so that is nice.
She made the best pot roasted I had ever had in my life.
God it was good. Food you don't have to make
tastes SOOO much better!
After dinner we went out to the workshop and Dave unloaded
Troy and Teddy's old Ketcars for their grandkids.
I got to admire Bonnie's '67 Mustang that he bought her for
her birthday a few years ago. Man it was tricked out and very cherry!
We went back and blabbed in her gorgeous living room
and I enjoyed her giant ginger-calico cat Jewel
and dust-mop of a Shit-a-Poo Max.
They were both very cuddly and Dave entertained us with
a wild story about going to the Arctic to fish wild pike and
to hunt Moose. He had a moose-head and giant pike replica
on the wall and they were really impressive.
He was a very good story teller and I started getting
sleepy from all that food and said it must be near
eight o'clock which is when I go to bed.
Dave said it was nine so we went to bed
and I heard the music that I have loved more than any other
since I was a child: The song of the green frogs.
I opened my window a few minutes and savored the sound
until it got too chilly. I read, "Miracle at Speedy Motors"
and sat in their massage chair and I was thinking
I might have died and gone to heaven.
All that good food and fun with Bonnie all day
and hanging out and getting to know her handsome husband.
Wow Mr. Blog, it just doesn't get any better than that!
I konked out until seven in the morning
and Bonnie made me some Joe even though she doesn't drink it
and you know what? We started blabbing and it went from seven
to ten in five minutes! I was so sad to leave.
Bonnie is so awesome and I wanted to stay all week!
It was a big windstorm when I left and my van was swaying like crazy
on I-5 going back to Kookmore.
When I got home there were lots of teens and I had authorized it
so it wasn't a surprise. Troy, Teddy, Daniel, Carlos, Dakota, Sean and
Herrardo were all hanging around. I was glad to see them since
they are all nice kids. They wanted to spend the night AGAIN
and I said, "Maybe. If you can clean house while I'm gone."
Then I made a list of chores I knew they couldn't complete
and had lunch and a shower and got dressed up to go
to Redmond to take the census job test.
It was snowing like crazy when I got to Redmond so I
just crept along until I found the library.
There were about two dozen of us there and the nice lady,
Deanne Thai, told us they only needed a few people to go
through Hunts Point and Medina because no one that lived
there wanted to work for the census. So then I had a nice
daydream of being invited into a waterfront mansion for coffee.
Well, my chances of having the top score are slim and the veteran
got ten points added to his score, but you never know.
I was so tired and cold when I got home at five and boy was
I surprised when I walked in the door!
MY HOUSE WAS SPOTLESS! Not only did they dust, sweep, mop,
vacuum and clean the bathroom and both bedrooms,
they even put away all six loads of laundry!
Dude! I just looked at those six kids and said,
"You're all in."
They were so happy and excited to have a party and started
bouncing up and down like superballs.
I talked to Terry for an hour and then
headed downstairs to read my new book
and head out to Botswana.
Africa, Africa, Africa....
Ahhh, nothing like sleeping in your own bed Mr. Blog!
Did you miss me? Better grab your pillow for this one!
*Waits for him to lie down on opposite couch with gold lame pillow*
So when I left here two days ago, I went down the hall
to study how to help the orphans in Botswana and saw a notice
for the Peace Corps. I tried to apply online but it
didn't work so I went to their office and talked to a nice man.
I was sad to hear I didn't qualify to go because I wanted to go
in November. Turns out if you have kids under 18 you can't go.
The time commitment is twenty-seven months. Ugh.
My teen sons hate me because I take away their awful video
games at the drop of a hate and they would LOVE to get rid of me!
Terry thinks I am nothing more than a useless parasite so
why would I want to stay here?! Short answer: I DON'T.
I called Brenny and told her I am going to join Peace Corps in 2015
when Teddy finishes Inglemoor and you know what she said?!
She said she had wanted to join Peace Corps since 1970 or go
to India to help the late Mother Theresa. Well, I thought
about India and parts of Asia then and how they can't get birth control.
The Philippines is all Catholic too so they can't get birth control.
It's just not fair Mr. Blog!
I CAN'T STAND THE THOUGHT OF PEOPLE STARVING
OR NOT HAVING CLEAN WATER OR SHELTER!
Ugh. I need to calm down, *Breathes deeply*
So Brenny said she will go with me but wonders if her husband
might not like it. Terry wouldn't notice if I was gone for twenty-seven months.
I could like, mail a pot roast Express Mail once a month
and he'd be happy.
Brenda and I discussed at depth the fact that we both come from
families of long livers and that we'd still have one
more decade of good health and two more of crappy health
after we got home from Botswana.
We agreed we've had so much fun in this lifetime that if we did get murdered
over there for being the wrong color we didn't mind.
As long as we get to help and adopt the orphans
and make some new friends and avoid mamba snakes.
Doesn't that sound like a great plan Mr. Blog?
*Looks over and smiles at him sleeping*
So our new motto is BOB 2015!
Botswana Or Bust in 2015.
So I finished packing to go visit Bonnie and asked Terry for
five dollars in case I needed coffee on the way and do you know
what he said?! "You had coffee and you have gas, you don't need money."
I was so hopping mad!
If I had a job and he didn't I'd give him ANYTHING HE WANTED.
So I buzzed down to Third Place Books and picked up a
shopping bag of used books by Alexander McCall-Smith
and put it on the charge card.
I don't care about new clothes or shoes
but I would be Jonesing bad for some new books
by Alexander McCall-Smith if I didn't have plenty
stored up. Now I have two dozen that I'm saving
up for my half-sister Heidi. She said she has always wanted
to read them, that they were her grandmother's favorite
books. I'm saving them for her for Christmas!
So, I hopped on I-5 and drag-raced up to exit 210 and
followed my mail to the entrance of Eagle's Ridge.
Now Bonnie forgot to mention that it was a private development
with a big NO TRESPASSING violators will be prosecuted sign at the entrance.
I knew from being a mail carrier ten years that I had to go in.
So, off I went and winding around through the mansions was pleasant.
A big fat deer was wandering down the road
and it looked like Mount Rainier National Park
only you got to stay in a mansion instead of a tent!
Well, then of course I thought about the people
in Botswana that are dying from AIDS and the
one million orphans in Africa and I felt sad.
It just seemed wrong somehow,
I pushed my thoughts of social inequity aside and found
Bonnie's driveway and was hoping she remembered I was coming!
I pulled up to her house and she came out and I was so happy.
She gave me a tour of her home and it was so lovely.
The decor was inviting country-living style and I felt
at home right away. Both her kids moved out since they are
twenty eight and twenty six so she told me to take either room upstairs.
I chose the one facing east and it had a panoramic view of the
Stillaguamish River and Cascade Mountains and the snow
level was at near eye-level.
Her husband doesn't want her to work outside the home
but after looking at that huge monster of a house, I knew she had
more work in that house than ANY job could entail!
She felt like getting out so we climbed into her totally awesome
pick-up truck! It was so huge and high up it had ladders built
in and on the back were duel tires in case we go a flat.
And get this Mr. Blog! The seats had built in heaters!
Have you ever heard of such a thing? Wow, my butt
was so hot I could have easily hatched an egg.
We cruised out onto I-5 and headed north and were just
cruising and blabbing a mile a minute.
For a minute I thought we were heading to Canada!
Then she hopped off on 520 westbound and we went to the
Farmhouse cafe for lunch. It was packed so we sat at the counter
and they had the coolest high-backed swivel chairs I'd ever seen.
Right across from us was the pie cooler and on the counter
was a lemon meringue pie that hat foot high meringue!
Well, my jaw dropped to my knees when I saw that!
The waitress heard me gushing about it and grabbed it
and put it right in front of us and I was speechless.
I handed her my camera and she took our picture together
and guess what Mr. Blog? Bonnie's favorite sandwich is a
Rueben too and she was buying so that was what we had.
God they were good with a million fat French fries on the side.
I will be paying for that for weeks but it was so worth it.
I had seen many dirt fields on the way and commented that
my entire life I had wanted to see the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
but that it looked too late for it. She just agreed but guess what?
When we left the Farmhouse she turned a corner and
there they were! Tulips! Millions and millions of them!
Red, yellow, purple, yellow and red and yellow daffodils too!
We took a few pictures but they didn't come out very
well on my cheap camera. Not like Jeanette Eggerman's!
Man, she takes the best pictures in the world!
So we cruised on back to her pad and looked at our old year books
and she showed me some pictures of her late husband on Facebook
and I did remember him and all his cute brothers.
She married Kevin Brockman and he was a mean drunk.
She stayed with him twenty years until he died and then
she started over. She didn't even want to remarry after all
that happened but you know what? Her cousin set her up on a
blind date with Dave and they fell in love
and got married in 2006.
Now she is the Queen of Arlington and good for her!
She SO deserves it after what she went through with Kevin.
She was always so quiet and friendly in high school and just
adorable. Like a little blond doll. She's only five feet one inch.
When it got late in the day I asked her if she minded if I took
my census renumator practice test and she said I needed to.
I finished in thirty minutes but missed ten and went back
and realized I didn't read all the choices of possible answers.
I studied for ten minutes and then Dave got home
from his job at Boeing.
God, he is such a living doll and it is rare that such a kind
man was still single at fifty! No ex-wife with kids
to make Bonnie miserable so that is nice.
She made the best pot roasted I had ever had in my life.
God it was good. Food you don't have to make
tastes SOOO much better!
After dinner we went out to the workshop and Dave unloaded
Troy and Teddy's old Ketcars for their grandkids.
I got to admire Bonnie's '67 Mustang that he bought her for
her birthday a few years ago. Man it was tricked out and very cherry!
We went back and blabbed in her gorgeous living room
and I enjoyed her giant ginger-calico cat Jewel
and dust-mop of a Shit-a-Poo Max.
They were both very cuddly and Dave entertained us with
a wild story about going to the Arctic to fish wild pike and
to hunt Moose. He had a moose-head and giant pike replica
on the wall and they were really impressive.
He was a very good story teller and I started getting
sleepy from all that food and said it must be near
eight o'clock which is when I go to bed.
Dave said it was nine so we went to bed
and I heard the music that I have loved more than any other
since I was a child: The song of the green frogs.
I opened my window a few minutes and savored the sound
until it got too chilly. I read, "Miracle at Speedy Motors"
and sat in their massage chair and I was thinking
I might have died and gone to heaven.
All that good food and fun with Bonnie all day
and hanging out and getting to know her handsome husband.
Wow Mr. Blog, it just doesn't get any better than that!
I konked out until seven in the morning
and Bonnie made me some Joe even though she doesn't drink it
and you know what? We started blabbing and it went from seven
to ten in five minutes! I was so sad to leave.
Bonnie is so awesome and I wanted to stay all week!
It was a big windstorm when I left and my van was swaying like crazy
on I-5 going back to Kookmore.
When I got home there were lots of teens and I had authorized it
so it wasn't a surprise. Troy, Teddy, Daniel, Carlos, Dakota, Sean and
Herrardo were all hanging around. I was glad to see them since
they are all nice kids. They wanted to spend the night AGAIN
and I said, "Maybe. If you can clean house while I'm gone."
Then I made a list of chores I knew they couldn't complete
and had lunch and a shower and got dressed up to go
to Redmond to take the census job test.
It was snowing like crazy when I got to Redmond so I
just crept along until I found the library.
There were about two dozen of us there and the nice lady,
Deanne Thai, told us they only needed a few people to go
through Hunts Point and Medina because no one that lived
there wanted to work for the census. So then I had a nice
daydream of being invited into a waterfront mansion for coffee.
Well, my chances of having the top score are slim and the veteran
got ten points added to his score, but you never know.
I was so tired and cold when I got home at five and boy was
I surprised when I walked in the door!
MY HOUSE WAS SPOTLESS! Not only did they dust, sweep, mop,
vacuum and clean the bathroom and both bedrooms,
they even put away all six loads of laundry!
Dude! I just looked at those six kids and said,
"You're all in."
They were so happy and excited to have a party and started
bouncing up and down like superballs.
I talked to Terry for an hour and then
headed downstairs to read my new book
and head out to Botswana.
Africa, Africa, Africa....
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
4/6/10 Census/Africa/Aids/HIV/Gates Foundation
*Skips in merrily*
Good Morning Mr. Blog.
I slept so well last night it is criminal!
I got a call last night from the census test scheduler
that they ended up short-handed for renumerators and they had used a
traced my inquiry call from last week and used a reverse phone directory
to to find me and invite me to take the exam Thursday.
I was so surprised to find out they earn $18.00 an hour!
Nearly what I make as a teacher after suffering through five years at the
University of Washington. Ugh. Still have a student loan.
Do you think I wasted my time and money on college Mr. Blog?
Well, it is all inconsequential when you think about the AIDS
epidemic in Africa. I had read about it over the years in the
newspaper and saw that the Gates Foundation had begun to help
Botswana and other countries get medicines recently.
I just spent an hour reading a heart-breaking article about it.
I wonder if Alexander McCall-Smith knows
how his fictional story in Botswana moves
people like myself, to investigate Africa and AIDS?
I was reading, "The Good Husband of Zebra Lane"
last night and Precious goes to investigate a medical mystery
and a small orphan boy reaches up to her.
She picks him up and holds him and there is a mention
of many orphans in Africa.
Well, I surmised there might be if they had an AIDS epidemic
but never studied the issue very carefully.
Now that I have friends in Botswana,
my lifelong interest in Africa has been rekindled
so I did some digging around
down the hall in the history room and just finished
an hour of reading about the history of AIDS/HIV.
I am so upset Mr. Blog!
Over twenty-two million people have HIV or AIDS in Africa!
That is completely unacceptable!
Every single one of those sick people needs medicine.
I now would like to run an orphanage in Botswana.
I don't have any money though.
I need to work harder to get a teaching job and my business going
so I can build an enormous orphanage for every single orphaned
child in Africa. I wonder if Africa would let me adopt orphaned children?
I know I am the wrong color and most people there
would not like me. I wonder if there is a pill I can take
to change colors so I can help those children?
It is very distressing Mr. Blog.
Many of the religious leaders are against birth control.
Of course the Pope is rich and can't have children.
If he was poor and had AIDS and had to watch
his son die of starvation, he would promote health access
and the world could improve over night.
I believe in God Mr. Blog.
I believe his son died for our sins.
But all texts are subject to interpretation.
The bible has been translated millions of times and who
is to say that God did not want people to have access to
medical help? Who thinks God could accept suffering?
Well, I'd better get going to try to hustle up some initiative
to find a way to stop AIDS and HIV.
Here is the article Mr. Blog.
You can read it later.
Ciao *hands him article*
http://www.avert.org/history-aids-africa.htm
Good Morning Mr. Blog.
I slept so well last night it is criminal!
I got a call last night from the census test scheduler
that they ended up short-handed for renumerators and they had used a
traced my inquiry call from last week and used a reverse phone directory
to to find me and invite me to take the exam Thursday.
I was so surprised to find out they earn $18.00 an hour!
Nearly what I make as a teacher after suffering through five years at the
University of Washington. Ugh. Still have a student loan.
Do you think I wasted my time and money on college Mr. Blog?
Well, it is all inconsequential when you think about the AIDS
epidemic in Africa. I had read about it over the years in the
newspaper and saw that the Gates Foundation had begun to help
Botswana and other countries get medicines recently.
I just spent an hour reading a heart-breaking article about it.
I wonder if Alexander McCall-Smith knows
how his fictional story in Botswana moves
people like myself, to investigate Africa and AIDS?
I was reading, "The Good Husband of Zebra Lane"
last night and Precious goes to investigate a medical mystery
and a small orphan boy reaches up to her.
She picks him up and holds him and there is a mention
of many orphans in Africa.
Well, I surmised there might be if they had an AIDS epidemic
but never studied the issue very carefully.
Now that I have friends in Botswana,
my lifelong interest in Africa has been rekindled
so I did some digging around
down the hall in the history room and just finished
an hour of reading about the history of AIDS/HIV.
I am so upset Mr. Blog!
Over twenty-two million people have HIV or AIDS in Africa!
That is completely unacceptable!
Every single one of those sick people needs medicine.
I now would like to run an orphanage in Botswana.
I don't have any money though.
I need to work harder to get a teaching job and my business going
so I can build an enormous orphanage for every single orphaned
child in Africa. I wonder if Africa would let me adopt orphaned children?
I know I am the wrong color and most people there
would not like me. I wonder if there is a pill I can take
to change colors so I can help those children?
It is very distressing Mr. Blog.
Many of the religious leaders are against birth control.
Of course the Pope is rich and can't have children.
If he was poor and had AIDS and had to watch
his son die of starvation, he would promote health access
and the world could improve over night.
I believe in God Mr. Blog.
I believe his son died for our sins.
But all texts are subject to interpretation.
The bible has been translated millions of times and who
is to say that God did not want people to have access to
medical help? Who thinks God could accept suffering?
Well, I'd better get going to try to hustle up some initiative
to find a way to stop AIDS and HIV.
Here is the article Mr. Blog.
You can read it later.
Ciao *hands him article*
http://www.avert.org/history-aids-africa.htm
Monday, April 5, 2010
4/5/2010 Easter in Kookmore
*Walks in and hands Mr. Blog gold lame egg-pillow and basket*
Hi Mr. Blog, don't you love that pillow? Found it at Ostrom's
where there are millions of fantastic and overpriced gifts.
Better lie down because this is a very long sad and happy story.
*Waits for him to lie down on his new pillow*
So, after I saw you Friday morning, Patty and I went shopping
for Easter and yard supplies. She came over and I drove us
out to Home Depot where I found some saws for the kids
and garden stakes for a secret project that I will tell you about
in a few years. The saws are for cutting down small trees
while the boys are on spring break. Speaking of boys...
Did I tell you Teddy won an excellence in school award?
I was so proud and his certificate says, "Theo."
He says that is his name that his friends call him at school
so I said, "That's nice Theo."
He looked at me and said,
"Not you mom. I am Teddy to you."
Well, that was nice since he has been my little
Teddy-bear since he was born.
With those big brown eyes.
My eyes.
And warm, agreeable nature, like me.
Both Terry's are quite stubborn and obstinate at times.
So Patty and I finished up at Home Depot and she
wanted to go to Grocery Outlet.
My goodness, they had some great prices Mr. Blog!
I asked the checker where she is from and guess what Mr. Blog?!
She is from Africa!!! I am so excited that when Grocery Outlet
moves across the street from me I will be able to talk to someone
from Africa! I forget which state, but I'll find out for you.
I asked her about a job for Troy and she said to have him bring
a resume on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday for Leslie.
I'm not sure he will be brave enough tomorrow but we'll find out...
Patty and I popped in Safeway and I had all the food I needed for
Easter and when she went home I dug right into work.
I plugged in my trusty PowerBook G-4 and set it on the ledge
above my kitchen sink and started my My Name Is Earl festival.
I happily used my new used Daisy Stripper to peel potatoes.
I didn't know they still made electric potato peelers and I had
worn mine out five years ago and looked all over for one.
Then one day I saw this one at Saint Vincent DePaul.
Thank God for Kenmore Saint Vincent DePaul!
I also made a ham and cheese fritatta for Easter breakfast.
Daniel had slept over and Teddy was at Tyler's so
Troy and Daniel were playing a video game in the basement
when Carlos burst through the door!
I was startled and he exclaimed,
"I got my license!"
Well, he ran to the basement and there was much shouting
and cheering and the house started shaking as
those giant teenagers came flying up the stairs and
running out the front door!
I peered out the window and watched happily as they
piled into Gene's pick-up truck.
I knew Carlos was not allowed to have anyone not related to him
for the first six months and that he could get his license pulled
and revoked until he was eighteen. I knew he knew it and decided
not to run out to the street and shout at him and ruin his moment
of glory. He slowly pulled out and drove off with my son and Daniel
and I started crying a little. How fast the years had flown by.
Troy met Carlos and Daniel when he was six and I made him
play t-ball for Kenmore Little League. He was so frightened
and didn't want to go but I forced him to be brave and he
made his first two best friends.
Carlos and Daniel.
They were in my first cub scout den
in 1999 and they were so tiny! Daniel was really tiny
and had a jet-black, silky mullet and looked like an adorable elf.
Carlos was so thin I thought he would surely
go down the drain with the bathwater!
Funny that ten years later the three are still best friends.
I wonder if they will be best friends forever?
So, one million gallons of Kool-Aid later,
they are are taller than me! Troy and Carlos are well
above six feet tall and Daniel is about five feet nine inches.
Carlos drove off in the light blue metallic pick-up truck
and they were only gone a few minutes so I'm guessing they
drove to the end of the road and back.
So they all hung out around the house all day and every
ten minutes Carlos had to drive somewhere.
Because he could.
I'm so proud of those boys.
Turns out they all grew up to be fine men and they will all
make very nice husbands someday. Especially Troy!
I have trained him to dote on girls
and to clean windows, bathrooms, floors, dishes
and he signed up for cooking at school and can really cook!
Well, speaking of cooking...
I made my mashed potatoes and a cake and cleaned up my mess
and went to bed to read my book. It was so chilly
that I put my heating pad under my feet and took
off for Botswana and my friends at the
Number 1 First Ladies' Detective Agency.
I'm on the fifth or sixth book now and I find the books
very calming on my deteriorating nervous system.
Saturday I got up to start filling the eggs and guess what I forgot?
Easter candy! I was so disgusted with myself.
It was cold again but I forced myself to jump around
with my daily dose of my Jane Fonda tape and then
take a hot shower and bundle up and walk to the Dollar Tree
store across the street. I found everything and was relieved
that the sons had gone off roaming around town with their
friends. Our new Comcast television has something called
On Demand and I managed to find and play one of my favorite
movies, Alien, starring Sigorney Weaver. I remember when
it came out when I was twenty and it is still just as scary!
I happily sat on my dear couch and filled plastic eggs with
jelly beans, scared to death. I hadn't watched that movie in
thirty years so it was very exciting!
I had found something at the Kenmore Dollar Tree
that I remembered from my youth and hadn't seen for years!
Circus Peanuts. They are orange marshmallows the shape
of two inch tall peanuts and quite disgusting and tasty!
Yum, yum, Mr. Blog. I only ate two and was quite delighted
to remember my mother hiding eggs my whole life.
Even when she was a depressed welfare mom living
in Holly Park housing project in 1959, she still hid eggs!
I wonder in two decades, when I am dead and gone
if my sons will remember having Easter Egg hunts
well into their teens.
I have decided to hide eggs for them and make their
baskets until I die
because they will have a few decades to live after that
and maybe a few struggles that fond memories can help with.
Well, that is my plan, but if I get hit by a bus tomorrow
I won't care because I will look down on them
from Heaven and know that they will find their
old baskets in the attic at some point and smile
and remember.
So I went to bed to wait for the boys to go to bed.
At ten, I heard Terry tell them to go to bed.
I was getting tired and needed to hide the eggs
and at eleven thirty I told them to go to bed.
They were playing some hideous game on the
X-Box 360, which I will be removing one day soon
and Troy was quite sassy with me.
So I woke up Terry and he came upstairs
and was cranky and sided with the kids!
That feckless nimcompoop! Ugh!
I glared at Troy and stormed downstairs
and told them to say good-bye to their
X-Box 360. I hope the inventor of that burns in hell-fire!
They went to bed and I put out their darling baskets and hid the
eggs and I took a diphenhydromine to help me sleep.
Funny, as angry as I was when I fell asleep, I was my normal
cheerful self when I woke up!
It was eight thirty and Terry and I had coffee and I popped
the fritatta and cinnamon rolls in the oven and waited
for the boys to wake up. As teens they sleep and sleep and sleep!
At nine they came out and both showered and Terry left
to empty all the trash containers which was annoying but
to be expected.
Troy and Teddy shouted with glee and raced around the house
collecting their eggs.
When they finished, they sat on the couch and looked through
their baskets and Troy said, "Teddy, I am sentimental
over all these old toys."
Teddy had the trick money holder and noticed
it had a five dollar bill instead of a one dollar bill for the first time.
They squeezed their giant bunny-doll hands and laughed as they
played the Archie's song, "Sugar sugar."
Well, we had that fine breakfast and everyone
got dressed for church in the suits I had laid out
and Troy drove us to church.
It was packed and Troy told us later that his Spanish teacher
had come in late and sat behind us.
As you know, Mr. Blog, I am completely
obsessed with Botswana Africa at the moment so you can
imagine my glee when the choir sang the opening hymn
and it was, "Song of the Risen One" which is African!
I looked at the choir and they had on African print
stoles over their golden Easter choir robes and I
thought I had died and gone to heaven! Or Botswana
which I think is heaven on earth, except for the snakes.
Then I saw my new friend Robin was playing an African
drum that looked like a very tall conga drum.
Ever since I went to that church women's retreat
church has become very exciting for me because
I know some people a little better and enjoy
watching them sing in the choir and play instruments.
We went into the first hymn for the rest of us which of course was,
"Christ the Lord is Risen Today."
It made me weep a little thinking of my mom, whom was
particularly fond of that song. I shut my eyes and visualized her in heaven
with Lyle and Grandma and Grandpa and
for the first time I saw my Auntie Ann, rejoined with
my Uncle Dick. He had died as a young man of fifty
and I was happy to seem them standing together in heaven.
Well, the Easter banners of gold thread were shockingly beautiful
and I am glad you are here Mr. Blog.
It will give me so much pleasure someday to remember the
beauty of those banners!
What gave me the most pleasure of my entire life
was to have my fine handsome sons standing between
us and to hear them sing! Oh how they can sing!
Teddy has been in choir all year and sings tenor
and Troy on the other side of him sang a flawless bass line!
Well, Terry and I don't know how to read music Mr. Blog so
it is very exciting for us to hear them sing.
When they were both in grade school at Kenmore Elementary,
their music teacher, Judy Bonet, told me they
both had perfect pitch, whatever that is and that
I HAD to sign them up for choir when they go to junior high.
Well, that was good advice and I took it and Troy was
voted best male vocalist all three years and Linda Hamilton
told me she tried to talk Teddy into solos without success.
Troy was a bold, happy singer and did a solo up at
Bastyer when he was in seventh grade. Blake Lewis, from
American Idol came out and sang after them.
He had started his singing career at Kenmore Junior High!
But poor Teddy, as good as a singer as he is...gets
stage-fright and looks like he will throw up any minute
when he is up there at the school concerts.
So, I will never forget Easter of 2010 and the
pure joy of hearing my sons singing my mother's favorite hymn.
The next part of the service was shockingly funny.
Pastor Laura had the children come for their part of the service
and she taught them how to do a wave like at a football game.
Well, I had a hard time not laughing at this.
Then Pastor Laura had the ENTIRE congregation do a wave
while shouting hallelujah! I had NEVER seen anything like that
before but was very delighted.
Reverend Stephen Tarr did a fantastic sermon,
"When the Tough Get Going."
I laughed when he talked about Jesus telling Mary to spread
the word to the disciples that he had risen from the dead
and that he chose to think of Jesus as empowering Mary to
spread the good word and liked to think of it in modern terms
and then this, small Scottish reverend, took the stance
and voice of a black, inner-city sister and said very loudly.
"YOU GO GIRL!"
Everyone laughed at the image and couldn't stop.
The modern voice of Jesus telling Mary to send out the good word.
I was so delighted by this as you can imagine!
Teddy started fussing at this point at not wanting to go
up for communion. As is my way when they fuss
I did what I always do and ignored him. When it was time
to stand and line up, I gave Terry the signal and I led
the way without looking behind me. The boys followed
and I could feel Teddy behind me as I followed
the line to share God's blood and body with the hopes
that my numerous sins could be forgiven
and that one day I could be with my mother and father
and grandparents again for eternity.
WE got back home and I took a long nap for the day
and woke up refreshed at four and put dinner on.
Pam had dialysis so it was just my tiny family and our friend Dean.
He was kind enough to pick up Martinellis and we
feasted on ham, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, potato salad, asparagus
and strawberry short cake with tea for dessert.
I tried not to think about missing fruit salad but I couldn't afford it this year.
Maybe next year. Imagine having a job again Mr. Blog!
Having fruit salad!
Perhaps putting in a floor to replace our old one
with the dozens of patches of duct-tape.
I was exhausted after dinner and left Terry and Dean to clean up
and I crawled in Bed with my new book,
"Blue Shoes and Happiness"
and waited for Brenda to call.
I was so excited when she called from Pahoa
to find out that one of her orchids I had bought
her had flowered! Six large purple-trimmed white blossoms
on Easter! Now how amazing is that?????
Hi Mr. Blog, don't you love that pillow? Found it at Ostrom's
where there are millions of fantastic and overpriced gifts.
Better lie down because this is a very long sad and happy story.
*Waits for him to lie down on his new pillow*
So, after I saw you Friday morning, Patty and I went shopping
for Easter and yard supplies. She came over and I drove us
out to Home Depot where I found some saws for the kids
and garden stakes for a secret project that I will tell you about
in a few years. The saws are for cutting down small trees
while the boys are on spring break. Speaking of boys...
Did I tell you Teddy won an excellence in school award?
I was so proud and his certificate says, "Theo."
He says that is his name that his friends call him at school
so I said, "That's nice Theo."
He looked at me and said,
"Not you mom. I am Teddy to you."
Well, that was nice since he has been my little
Teddy-bear since he was born.
With those big brown eyes.
My eyes.
And warm, agreeable nature, like me.
Both Terry's are quite stubborn and obstinate at times.
So Patty and I finished up at Home Depot and she
wanted to go to Grocery Outlet.
My goodness, they had some great prices Mr. Blog!
I asked the checker where she is from and guess what Mr. Blog?!
She is from Africa!!! I am so excited that when Grocery Outlet
moves across the street from me I will be able to talk to someone
from Africa! I forget which state, but I'll find out for you.
I asked her about a job for Troy and she said to have him bring
a resume on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday for Leslie.
I'm not sure he will be brave enough tomorrow but we'll find out...
Patty and I popped in Safeway and I had all the food I needed for
Easter and when she went home I dug right into work.
I plugged in my trusty PowerBook G-4 and set it on the ledge
above my kitchen sink and started my My Name Is Earl festival.
I happily used my new used Daisy Stripper to peel potatoes.
I didn't know they still made electric potato peelers and I had
worn mine out five years ago and looked all over for one.
Then one day I saw this one at Saint Vincent DePaul.
Thank God for Kenmore Saint Vincent DePaul!
I also made a ham and cheese fritatta for Easter breakfast.
Daniel had slept over and Teddy was at Tyler's so
Troy and Daniel were playing a video game in the basement
when Carlos burst through the door!
I was startled and he exclaimed,
"I got my license!"
Well, he ran to the basement and there was much shouting
and cheering and the house started shaking as
those giant teenagers came flying up the stairs and
running out the front door!
I peered out the window and watched happily as they
piled into Gene's pick-up truck.
I knew Carlos was not allowed to have anyone not related to him
for the first six months and that he could get his license pulled
and revoked until he was eighteen. I knew he knew it and decided
not to run out to the street and shout at him and ruin his moment
of glory. He slowly pulled out and drove off with my son and Daniel
and I started crying a little. How fast the years had flown by.
Troy met Carlos and Daniel when he was six and I made him
play t-ball for Kenmore Little League. He was so frightened
and didn't want to go but I forced him to be brave and he
made his first two best friends.
Carlos and Daniel.
They were in my first cub scout den
in 1999 and they were so tiny! Daniel was really tiny
and had a jet-black, silky mullet and looked like an adorable elf.
Carlos was so thin I thought he would surely
go down the drain with the bathwater!
Funny that ten years later the three are still best friends.
I wonder if they will be best friends forever?
So, one million gallons of Kool-Aid later,
they are are taller than me! Troy and Carlos are well
above six feet tall and Daniel is about five feet nine inches.
Carlos drove off in the light blue metallic pick-up truck
and they were only gone a few minutes so I'm guessing they
drove to the end of the road and back.
So they all hung out around the house all day and every
ten minutes Carlos had to drive somewhere.
Because he could.
I'm so proud of those boys.
Turns out they all grew up to be fine men and they will all
make very nice husbands someday. Especially Troy!
I have trained him to dote on girls
and to clean windows, bathrooms, floors, dishes
and he signed up for cooking at school and can really cook!
Well, speaking of cooking...
I made my mashed potatoes and a cake and cleaned up my mess
and went to bed to read my book. It was so chilly
that I put my heating pad under my feet and took
off for Botswana and my friends at the
Number 1 First Ladies' Detective Agency.
I'm on the fifth or sixth book now and I find the books
very calming on my deteriorating nervous system.
Saturday I got up to start filling the eggs and guess what I forgot?
Easter candy! I was so disgusted with myself.
It was cold again but I forced myself to jump around
with my daily dose of my Jane Fonda tape and then
take a hot shower and bundle up and walk to the Dollar Tree
store across the street. I found everything and was relieved
that the sons had gone off roaming around town with their
friends. Our new Comcast television has something called
On Demand and I managed to find and play one of my favorite
movies, Alien, starring Sigorney Weaver. I remember when
it came out when I was twenty and it is still just as scary!
I happily sat on my dear couch and filled plastic eggs with
jelly beans, scared to death. I hadn't watched that movie in
thirty years so it was very exciting!
I had found something at the Kenmore Dollar Tree
that I remembered from my youth and hadn't seen for years!
Circus Peanuts. They are orange marshmallows the shape
of two inch tall peanuts and quite disgusting and tasty!
Yum, yum, Mr. Blog. I only ate two and was quite delighted
to remember my mother hiding eggs my whole life.
Even when she was a depressed welfare mom living
in Holly Park housing project in 1959, she still hid eggs!
I wonder in two decades, when I am dead and gone
if my sons will remember having Easter Egg hunts
well into their teens.
I have decided to hide eggs for them and make their
baskets until I die
because they will have a few decades to live after that
and maybe a few struggles that fond memories can help with.
Well, that is my plan, but if I get hit by a bus tomorrow
I won't care because I will look down on them
from Heaven and know that they will find their
old baskets in the attic at some point and smile
and remember.
So I went to bed to wait for the boys to go to bed.
At ten, I heard Terry tell them to go to bed.
I was getting tired and needed to hide the eggs
and at eleven thirty I told them to go to bed.
They were playing some hideous game on the
X-Box 360, which I will be removing one day soon
and Troy was quite sassy with me.
So I woke up Terry and he came upstairs
and was cranky and sided with the kids!
That feckless nimcompoop! Ugh!
I glared at Troy and stormed downstairs
and told them to say good-bye to their
X-Box 360. I hope the inventor of that burns in hell-fire!
They went to bed and I put out their darling baskets and hid the
eggs and I took a diphenhydromine to help me sleep.
Funny, as angry as I was when I fell asleep, I was my normal
cheerful self when I woke up!
It was eight thirty and Terry and I had coffee and I popped
the fritatta and cinnamon rolls in the oven and waited
for the boys to wake up. As teens they sleep and sleep and sleep!
At nine they came out and both showered and Terry left
to empty all the trash containers which was annoying but
to be expected.
Troy and Teddy shouted with glee and raced around the house
collecting their eggs.
When they finished, they sat on the couch and looked through
their baskets and Troy said, "Teddy, I am sentimental
over all these old toys."
Teddy had the trick money holder and noticed
it had a five dollar bill instead of a one dollar bill for the first time.
They squeezed their giant bunny-doll hands and laughed as they
played the Archie's song, "Sugar sugar."
Well, we had that fine breakfast and everyone
got dressed for church in the suits I had laid out
and Troy drove us to church.
It was packed and Troy told us later that his Spanish teacher
had come in late and sat behind us.
As you know, Mr. Blog, I am completely
obsessed with Botswana Africa at the moment so you can
imagine my glee when the choir sang the opening hymn
and it was, "Song of the Risen One" which is African!
I looked at the choir and they had on African print
stoles over their golden Easter choir robes and I
thought I had died and gone to heaven! Or Botswana
which I think is heaven on earth, except for the snakes.
Then I saw my new friend Robin was playing an African
drum that looked like a very tall conga drum.
Ever since I went to that church women's retreat
church has become very exciting for me because
I know some people a little better and enjoy
watching them sing in the choir and play instruments.
We went into the first hymn for the rest of us which of course was,
"Christ the Lord is Risen Today."
It made me weep a little thinking of my mom, whom was
particularly fond of that song. I shut my eyes and visualized her in heaven
with Lyle and Grandma and Grandpa and
for the first time I saw my Auntie Ann, rejoined with
my Uncle Dick. He had died as a young man of fifty
and I was happy to seem them standing together in heaven.
Well, the Easter banners of gold thread were shockingly beautiful
and I am glad you are here Mr. Blog.
It will give me so much pleasure someday to remember the
beauty of those banners!
What gave me the most pleasure of my entire life
was to have my fine handsome sons standing between
us and to hear them sing! Oh how they can sing!
Teddy has been in choir all year and sings tenor
and Troy on the other side of him sang a flawless bass line!
Well, Terry and I don't know how to read music Mr. Blog so
it is very exciting for us to hear them sing.
When they were both in grade school at Kenmore Elementary,
their music teacher, Judy Bonet, told me they
both had perfect pitch, whatever that is and that
I HAD to sign them up for choir when they go to junior high.
Well, that was good advice and I took it and Troy was
voted best male vocalist all three years and Linda Hamilton
told me she tried to talk Teddy into solos without success.
Troy was a bold, happy singer and did a solo up at
Bastyer when he was in seventh grade. Blake Lewis, from
American Idol came out and sang after them.
He had started his singing career at Kenmore Junior High!
But poor Teddy, as good as a singer as he is...gets
stage-fright and looks like he will throw up any minute
when he is up there at the school concerts.
So, I will never forget Easter of 2010 and the
pure joy of hearing my sons singing my mother's favorite hymn.
The next part of the service was shockingly funny.
Pastor Laura had the children come for their part of the service
and she taught them how to do a wave like at a football game.
Well, I had a hard time not laughing at this.
Then Pastor Laura had the ENTIRE congregation do a wave
while shouting hallelujah! I had NEVER seen anything like that
before but was very delighted.
Reverend Stephen Tarr did a fantastic sermon,
"When the Tough Get Going."
I laughed when he talked about Jesus telling Mary to spread
the word to the disciples that he had risen from the dead
and that he chose to think of Jesus as empowering Mary to
spread the good word and liked to think of it in modern terms
and then this, small Scottish reverend, took the stance
and voice of a black, inner-city sister and said very loudly.
"YOU GO GIRL!"
Everyone laughed at the image and couldn't stop.
The modern voice of Jesus telling Mary to send out the good word.
I was so delighted by this as you can imagine!
Teddy started fussing at this point at not wanting to go
up for communion. As is my way when they fuss
I did what I always do and ignored him. When it was time
to stand and line up, I gave Terry the signal and I led
the way without looking behind me. The boys followed
and I could feel Teddy behind me as I followed
the line to share God's blood and body with the hopes
that my numerous sins could be forgiven
and that one day I could be with my mother and father
and grandparents again for eternity.
WE got back home and I took a long nap for the day
and woke up refreshed at four and put dinner on.
Pam had dialysis so it was just my tiny family and our friend Dean.
He was kind enough to pick up Martinellis and we
feasted on ham, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, potato salad, asparagus
and strawberry short cake with tea for dessert.
I tried not to think about missing fruit salad but I couldn't afford it this year.
Maybe next year. Imagine having a job again Mr. Blog!
Having fruit salad!
Perhaps putting in a floor to replace our old one
with the dozens of patches of duct-tape.
I was exhausted after dinner and left Terry and Dean to clean up
and I crawled in Bed with my new book,
"Blue Shoes and Happiness"
and waited for Brenda to call.
I was so excited when she called from Pahoa
to find out that one of her orchids I had bought
her had flowered! Six large purple-trimmed white blossoms
on Easter! Now how amazing is that?????
Saturday, April 3, 2010
4/3/10 Shhh. Don't Tell Troy and Teddy I'm the ...
Good morning Mr. Blog,
I slept so well. Only one hot flash all night.
Maybe after seven years of those, the end is near.
I hope so!
Well, I have a big job today.
I have to fill Troy and Teddy's Easter baskets.
I am so glad my bedroom door has a lock on it.
I mean at thirteen and sixteen they might have figured it out..
Hahahaha. Of course they have!
I had some interesting conversations yesterday with
Marcia and Brenda.
Turns out that children want Easter baskets their entire lives
from their moms.
I have to think back and you know what?
My mom did hide eggs and put out baskets until
she remarried and moved away when I was eighteen.
You know what?
Terry and I were kind of on tight budget when the kids were little
so I told them that after Easter,
I had to mail everything back to the Easter Bunny
for the next year except the fresh candy.
I had bought some specialty Easter toys
and now that they are grownish,
they go through their baskets and say stuff like,
"Look! I remember these little Mutant Ninja Turtles
from when I was little!"
They seem to enjoy the continuity of seeing items
from their early childhood.
Plus, without a full time job I can't afford
new cool stuff like I wish I could.
I did find nice sweatpants cheap at the
Grocery Outlet store.
That is the oddest thing I have ever put in their baskets.
Clothes are so boring but you know what Mr. Blog?
I'm not a regular Easter Bunny.
I'm a mom Easter Bunny.
I strive to rekindle the memories of their early childhoods
and add a little practicality
and show them I love them
more than watermelon.
I slept so well. Only one hot flash all night.
Maybe after seven years of those, the end is near.
I hope so!
Well, I have a big job today.
I have to fill Troy and Teddy's Easter baskets.
I am so glad my bedroom door has a lock on it.
I mean at thirteen and sixteen they might have figured it out..
Hahahaha. Of course they have!
I had some interesting conversations yesterday with
Marcia and Brenda.
Turns out that children want Easter baskets their entire lives
from their moms.
I have to think back and you know what?
My mom did hide eggs and put out baskets until
she remarried and moved away when I was eighteen.
You know what?
Terry and I were kind of on tight budget when the kids were little
so I told them that after Easter,
I had to mail everything back to the Easter Bunny
for the next year except the fresh candy.
I had bought some specialty Easter toys
and now that they are grownish,
they go through their baskets and say stuff like,
"Look! I remember these little Mutant Ninja Turtles
from when I was little!"
They seem to enjoy the continuity of seeing items
from their early childhood.
Plus, without a full time job I can't afford
new cool stuff like I wish I could.
I did find nice sweatpants cheap at the
Grocery Outlet store.
That is the oddest thing I have ever put in their baskets.
Clothes are so boring but you know what Mr. Blog?
I'm not a regular Easter Bunny.
I'm a mom Easter Bunny.
I strive to rekindle the memories of their early childhoods
and add a little practicality
and show them I love them
more than watermelon.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
4/1/10 Hodgepodge House & New Friends in Botswana
*Cartwheels in and perches on chair edge*
Impressive aren't I Mr. Blog?! Bet you don't know too
many fifty-three year old women that can do that!
That's the beauty of imagination isn't it Mr. Blog?
Well, I'm housewarming Angela's new apartment so I don't have
much time but I had the weirdest dream of Hodgepodge House
that I haven't had for about six months.
Hodgepodge House is located where Rudy's TV Repair
sits on Lake City Way only there are no apartments
and just a few tiny businesses along the un-busy road.
The bottom two floors are white colonial style with four columns
but then the top it red cedar in an austere Frank Floyd Wright style.
So I'm sound asleep and the windstorm wakes me up
and tears off a corner of the ceiling in our bedroom.
Our bedroom is on the top floor and lined with cedar paneling.
I can't wake up Terry but I hear a noise in the kitchen.
It is styled like Tina Clark's kitchen in Windemere
with windows along one side above the counters
only they are facing east instead of west.
The wind and rain are coming in the kitchen too
and I hear an animal noise and see an orange cat.
I sit down in the cold, wet mud and pick up the cat.
It is Earl! He is all grown up and cold and wet
and huge! Like twenty pounds. I gently dry him with
a towel and he looks up at me adoringly.
Then I see Winston under a nearby chair and pick him
up. He is a little smaller than Earl and I gently
pick him up and hold both of them and I'm
filled with the biggest happiness of my life to have
my babies back.
The storm stops and I hear my friend Patty calling up to me.
I go downstairs and greet her and show her around the house
which she hasn't seen even though we've lived there twenty years.
I say, "Come see this Patty, you'll love it."
We walk out a side door that faces north and there is
a pasture with grass and a few old, gnarled fruit trees
and across the meadow is a darling white carriage house.
It has Victorian trim and elaborate cornices
and it white on white.
We go in the front door and it is a living room decorated in comfortable
overstuffed chintz chairs and it is the most appealing
room I have ever seen!
It is one large room but there is a bed off to one side
but not clear to the wall because of a kitchen there.
It is an old, elegant looking kitchen with
antique appliances in white enamel but the odd thing is..
There are dutch doors at either end with a babbling brook
running down the middle of the room so to cook
you would have to step over it!
Patty says, "Gretchen! I have never seen anything like this!"
And I say, "Just wait, you haven't seen nothin yet."
She follows me to the door and we step into the grassy yard
next to the brook. The brook wells up from a huge stump
of a maple tree and there is a tiny pond inside.
We peer over the edge of the stump and see ducklings!
Patty says, "Look at the ducklings Gretchen!"
And I say, "Not just any ducklings Patty."
I pick one up and it is so soft and fuzzy and adorable
and I turn it towards Patty and her jaw drops open.
The duckling is a cross between an owl and a duck!
It has these huge appealing owl-eyes and wide owl head
on top of a fat, fuzzy brown duckling body.
They were the cutest creatures I have
ever not seen in my life Mr. Blog!
So I gently set the owl-duckling in the pond and say,
"Watch this Patty."
I lead her back into the cottage and we sit on the edge
of the bed next to the kitchen.
I have left the bottom of the Dutch door open
and in float the owl-ducklings as cute as can be.
There is a half circle opening in the bottom of the
door at the other side of the kitchen
and the babies float right out.
Patty's eyes are huge and she says,
"That is the cutest thing I have ever seen!
I would love to live here!" And I look at her and say,
"You can if you want, I'd be delighted to have you for a neighbor."
Then, this is funny Mr. Blog, she takes out a checkbook
and in this neat script handwriting, she makes out a check
for $267.00 even though I don't know that I am a landlord.
Funny thing is Mr. Blog, I have never seen Patty's handwriting
but I now want to and I'll have to ask her to write something
next time she comes over.
Well, that was that for that odd dream but I have dreamed
of that house at least a dozen times. It is different from Pigson
Mannor which is a replica of the white house and located
on the bluff over the Columbia River.
I have told you about my obsession with Botswana and posted to
four women I saw pictures of down the hall and I now
*says proudly* have two friends in Botswana!
Mo and Bakadzi. I'm guessing Mo is short for something
and guess what Mr. Blog?! She is a police officer!
Now, how fortunate am I to meet a lady police officer in Botswana?!
She has a handsome husband and three darling children.
Bakadzi is only twenty three and wants to be friends
despite my advanced age. I am old enough to be her grandmother!
But she is friendly and chatty and looked at my website
and wanted a Nixpix t-shirt!
Now how lucky is that Mr. Blog?!
I am waiting to hear what kind she wants
and I have made a decision right now,
while talking to you, that instead of having
Zazzle ship directly to her, I will order the shirt
sent her and then package it myself.
I want to send her some Kenmore stuff if there is any.
I don't think there is. Oh! A sticker!
I hope City Hall has some left!
They are diamond shape in yellow with black letters
that say, "In Kenmore, Courtesy is Contagious."
Oh! I will send her as many as they'll give me and then...
Maybe she and all her friends will come visit and stay
with us!!! Wouldn't that be exciting Mr. Blog?!
Yikes, more about all that later!
I am meeting Angela at the Kenmore Toshi's Teriyaki
at noon and will just barely make it!
Ciao!
Impressive aren't I Mr. Blog?! Bet you don't know too
many fifty-three year old women that can do that!
That's the beauty of imagination isn't it Mr. Blog?
Well, I'm housewarming Angela's new apartment so I don't have
much time but I had the weirdest dream of Hodgepodge House
that I haven't had for about six months.
Hodgepodge House is located where Rudy's TV Repair
sits on Lake City Way only there are no apartments
and just a few tiny businesses along the un-busy road.
The bottom two floors are white colonial style with four columns
but then the top it red cedar in an austere Frank Floyd Wright style.
So I'm sound asleep and the windstorm wakes me up
and tears off a corner of the ceiling in our bedroom.
Our bedroom is on the top floor and lined with cedar paneling.
I can't wake up Terry but I hear a noise in the kitchen.
It is styled like Tina Clark's kitchen in Windemere
with windows along one side above the counters
only they are facing east instead of west.
The wind and rain are coming in the kitchen too
and I hear an animal noise and see an orange cat.
I sit down in the cold, wet mud and pick up the cat.
It is Earl! He is all grown up and cold and wet
and huge! Like twenty pounds. I gently dry him with
a towel and he looks up at me adoringly.
Then I see Winston under a nearby chair and pick him
up. He is a little smaller than Earl and I gently
pick him up and hold both of them and I'm
filled with the biggest happiness of my life to have
my babies back.
The storm stops and I hear my friend Patty calling up to me.
I go downstairs and greet her and show her around the house
which she hasn't seen even though we've lived there twenty years.
I say, "Come see this Patty, you'll love it."
We walk out a side door that faces north and there is
a pasture with grass and a few old, gnarled fruit trees
and across the meadow is a darling white carriage house.
It has Victorian trim and elaborate cornices
and it white on white.
We go in the front door and it is a living room decorated in comfortable
overstuffed chintz chairs and it is the most appealing
room I have ever seen!
It is one large room but there is a bed off to one side
but not clear to the wall because of a kitchen there.
It is an old, elegant looking kitchen with
antique appliances in white enamel but the odd thing is..
There are dutch doors at either end with a babbling brook
running down the middle of the room so to cook
you would have to step over it!
Patty says, "Gretchen! I have never seen anything like this!"
And I say, "Just wait, you haven't seen nothin yet."
She follows me to the door and we step into the grassy yard
next to the brook. The brook wells up from a huge stump
of a maple tree and there is a tiny pond inside.
We peer over the edge of the stump and see ducklings!
Patty says, "Look at the ducklings Gretchen!"
And I say, "Not just any ducklings Patty."
I pick one up and it is so soft and fuzzy and adorable
and I turn it towards Patty and her jaw drops open.
The duckling is a cross between an owl and a duck!
It has these huge appealing owl-eyes and wide owl head
on top of a fat, fuzzy brown duckling body.
They were the cutest creatures I have
ever not seen in my life Mr. Blog!
So I gently set the owl-duckling in the pond and say,
"Watch this Patty."
I lead her back into the cottage and we sit on the edge
of the bed next to the kitchen.
I have left the bottom of the Dutch door open
and in float the owl-ducklings as cute as can be.
There is a half circle opening in the bottom of the
door at the other side of the kitchen
and the babies float right out.
Patty's eyes are huge and she says,
"That is the cutest thing I have ever seen!
I would love to live here!" And I look at her and say,
"You can if you want, I'd be delighted to have you for a neighbor."
Then, this is funny Mr. Blog, she takes out a checkbook
and in this neat script handwriting, she makes out a check
for $267.00 even though I don't know that I am a landlord.
Funny thing is Mr. Blog, I have never seen Patty's handwriting
but I now want to and I'll have to ask her to write something
next time she comes over.
Well, that was that for that odd dream but I have dreamed
of that house at least a dozen times. It is different from Pigson
Mannor which is a replica of the white house and located
on the bluff over the Columbia River.
I have told you about my obsession with Botswana and posted to
four women I saw pictures of down the hall and I now
*says proudly* have two friends in Botswana!
Mo and Bakadzi. I'm guessing Mo is short for something
and guess what Mr. Blog?! She is a police officer!
Now, how fortunate am I to meet a lady police officer in Botswana?!
She has a handsome husband and three darling children.
Bakadzi is only twenty three and wants to be friends
despite my advanced age. I am old enough to be her grandmother!
But she is friendly and chatty and looked at my website
and wanted a Nixpix t-shirt!
Now how lucky is that Mr. Blog?!
I am waiting to hear what kind she wants
and I have made a decision right now,
while talking to you, that instead of having
Zazzle ship directly to her, I will order the shirt
sent her and then package it myself.
I want to send her some Kenmore stuff if there is any.
I don't think there is. Oh! A sticker!
I hope City Hall has some left!
They are diamond shape in yellow with black letters
that say, "In Kenmore, Courtesy is Contagious."
Oh! I will send her as many as they'll give me and then...
Maybe she and all her friends will come visit and stay
with us!!! Wouldn't that be exciting Mr. Blog?!
Yikes, more about all that later!
I am meeting Angela at the Kenmore Toshi's Teriyaki
at noon and will just barely make it!
Ciao!
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