Just Me!!

What a whirlwind of a weekend. Friday started out with Charlies best friend sleeping over, I went to an Opera in the theater Saturday morning while Mark worked, and then later that day we left out of town for a one day/night quick trip to the ocean torestore our souls! Now it's 0644 in the morning on Monday and I wish we had more time to spend together.  We had a great time at the ocean. We ate yummy fish and chips, swam for nearly 2 hours at the Shilo, and played card games in our room. Ethan did well amusing us even though he was busy talking to his friends via text. I made him put it away and he wasn't too happy about it. It gets Val mad because she wants to spend time with him and he is always texting one of his friends. It usually ends with me trying to break up the frustration with reminding Val that she is not the parent. It was only 30 minutes of our time at the ocean so it was fine. What do you expect when you rent one room for two teens, yourself, husband and a 9 year...

It's barely November and it's snowing! It's going to be a bad winter. My bones feel it. My hibernation is kicking into full geer. I want to sit next to the fireplace, watch days and days of new TV/Netflix drama's, all while being locked in a haze of chili and soup. I know, I said it was bad. We've been doing anything but hibernating...pictures forthcoming. It's #cabinlife soon and my spirit is like that of a child on Christmas morning. Wine, talking, TV, hot tubbing, every waking moment with my lover is just what I need! To be able to blog that I have to get these late posts in so the documenting history is accurate! Mark's birthday, my Virgo, late by two months of posts, was one of the best for him. The gifts were beyond perfect, they were all very personal and very him! Valerie made him all book marks of the characters of a computer game he and she play together. She even made 2 polymer dragons by hand. Ethan got him a Dream Theater record (his favorite ba...

Valerie and I took a girls trip to PT last week. We had a great time driving, mapping with Siri, eating tasty foods, goofing around, giggling, geocaching, and shopping. We stayed overnight at the Waterstreet Hotel. They even had new beds that were extremely comfortable, so that was a nice surprise. The hotel room, that had two queen beds and a sink, was 64.00 total for a night! Amazingly cheap!! I love cheap and cute little hotel stays with character. We enjoyed the new Noodle Shop in town, and went back to the Chinese restaurant that has been there forever. We won't go back there again. The food was completely bland and yuckie! We only talked about her getting a jib (job) once as promised. I am completely lucky to have this brilliantly smart, beautiful woman in my life. Yay to more mom and daughter getaways!!

Date day with my son is ALWAYS a fun time! We laugh, joke, talk, share thoughts, and sometimes be completely silly! We spent the day at The Fish Bowl bowling and eating shrimp and fries. Apparently my son is a pretty intense high point ranking MEAN bowler! Strikes and spares were all the rage when he rolled the ball. I begged for a drive by haircut that day but he promised him and Val were going to get a surprise cut/color later that week. So we spent the day bowling instead. After we went and bought rock paint pens in Puyallup and had coffee at Forza Coffee. We laughed the whole time while sipping coffee. Thanks for an awesome time Ethan. I absolutely love spending time with you!!! The next day, a date with his sister to see My Little Pony and a cut, color, and a chemical burn to boot!!! The Inspiration

We spent a day traveling to Leavenworth so Ethan could spend time with Caitlin. He has been working so hard to catch up and we thought it would be a nice reward and a fun drive with the family. Megan came along and we ended up dropping Ethan off in Redmond so he could ride up with Caitlin. Her church had planned to go to Leavenworth for dinner and a browse around town. Because of the length of the drive we chose to go earlier and then look and shop around town. It took forever to get there but we did stop and geocache on the way. One of my favorite geocaches was the one at The Reptile Zoo! Thanks to Charlie's quick searching we were back in the car in no time. We ended up stopping for gas prior to the climb up the mountain--I had 63 miles of gas left. The only gas station around was out of gas and it was 35 miles back to Gold Bar or 40 miles to Leavenworth (that's what we were told). I chose to drive forward because it was close to the same distance. We made it to the top of th...

The week flew by and on Wednesdays I either feel like I accomplished what I needed too or I feel frustrated with myself for not doing more. Today I feel like I accomplished stuff. On this roatation off I: Thursday-shopped for college course books and clothes to get Val ready for Monday. Placed our table on Offer Up and sold it pretty much the same day! Saving those $$'s for the piano movers next rotation. Took Charlie to Piano and Ethan had soccer practice. Friday-made super yummy beef enchiladas and had a movie night with the kids! Guardians of the Galaxy 2 was just as good as the first. Saturday- helped my In-laws set up Mark's old table that his parents gave us! I love everything about this table and have been sitting here on this end spot for quite a few hours each day helping Ethan and Charlie with their homework and waiting for the dinner to be done cooking, oh and for coffee and cross stitching in the mornings! I feel very blessed to have been given this treasure and wil...

Valerie is all ready for college. I think we've given her every advice morsel that we could think to tell her. As she was headed out, post pictures, I yelled "Be Amazing (my theme this year) and make friends." About 40 minutes later she sent us a selfie of her first friend she made at college...an alligator! Ha ha ha. She is going to do great. I on the other hand am trying to make sense of everyone's schedules. Shannon is gifting me a calendar that just might help keep everything in perspective. Life is crazy busy fun though. I love fall. It is my favorite time of year! Val is still uncertain what she wants to do. Everything interests her but medicine and paleontology remains up at the top. For now it is Calculus, Chemistry, and College Prep Courses!