Washington, My Home

It was a lesson in state history and songs, and the music program at Sean's school was very cute. I took some pictures, but most of them have a lot of kids in them and I don't want to post those without the parents' permission.

The songs were all about Washington, and things and places here. There were songs about Tacoma, Puget Sound, and even a Geoduck Song.

Chuck went with us, and Sean's dad was there, too.
All the kids did a great job. It reminded me of the programs at the school David and Jewel attended when they were in kindergarten and first grade. I like small schools.

After the program we stopped for dinner and time for Sean to get some of his nervous energy out before coming home.


It was a good end to a great day. I started the day by making calls to all of my friends and family in the South. Tornados ripped through there yesterday and the destruction is unbelievable. Death count was more than 280 today. Some of the places I've spent time and visited have been devastated.

After accounting for everyone and finding out they were all OK, I went to spend time with Chuck on his day off. We had a great morning and ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant - El Sombrero. It's always nice to reconnect and catch up with what's going on after being apart for a few days. He was on shift a lot this week, and taking care of some important stuff on the days in between.

We both have been feeling a little overwhelmed by all of the responsibilities and obligations we have. I said I feel like I have too many jobs, and he said he feels that way too. We put our phones aside for more than an hour to have a decent conversation and time together, and ignored them as they buzzed and rang. Can't do that for very long or it just makes that overwhelmed feeling worse.

I left his place and it was run, run, run. Check messages, return calls, make calls, get Sean from school, rush home, check emails, and get ready for the program. I'm so glad we had a few hours to stop and relax before we had to hit the ground running again.

I got this list through someone on Facebook, but it goes along with the program tonight, "Washington, My Home." It will give you a glimpse of what people do, and are like, in our wonderful state.

1. If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in Washington. 
2.  If you've worn shorts, sandals and a parka at the same time, you live in Washington.  
3.  If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed the wrong number, you live in Washington. 
4.   If you measure distance in hours, you live in Washington.  
5.  If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in Washington.  
6.  If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C' and back again in the same day, you live in Washington.   
7.  If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in Central, Southern, or Eastern Washington.  
8.  If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over 2 layers of clothes or under a raincoat, you live in Washington.  
9.  If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow and ice, you live in Washington.  
10.  If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction, you live in Washington.   
11.  If you feel guilty throwing aluminum cans or paper in the trash, you live in Washington.  
12.   If you know more than 10 ways to order coffee, you live in Washington. 
13.   If you know more people who own boats than air conditioners, you live in Washington.   
14. If you stand on a deserted corner in the rain waiting for the "Walk" signal, you live in Washington. 
15.   If you consider that if it has no snow or has not recently erupted, it is not a real mountain, you live in Washington. 
16.   If you can taste the difference between Starbucks, Seattle's Best, and Tullys, you live in Washington. 
17.   If you know the difference between Chinook, Coho and Sockeye salmon, you live in Washington.  
18.  If you know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup, Issaquah, Snoqualmie, Wenatchee, Spokane, Umpqua, Yakima, and Willamette, you live in Washington.  
19.    If you consider swimming an indoor sport, you live in Washington. 
20.   If you can tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese and Thai food, you live in Washington.  
21.  If you never go camping without waterproof matches and a poncho, you live in Washington.   
22. If you have actually used your mountain bike on a mountain, you live in Washington.   
23. If you think people who use umbrellas are either wimps or tourists, you live in Washington.  
24.  If you buy new sunglasses every year because you cannot find the old ones after such a long time, you live in Washington.   
25.  If you actually understand these jokes and forward them to all your Washington friends, you live or have lived in Washington.     By: Laurece Bonner Rust

Eggs, Baskets, Food and Love

I put all work aside and Sean and I spent the whole weekend with Chuck and Lilly.
Dinner is always a question when we have the kids, but Chuck had a pizza kit from a fundraiser and we all voted yes on that for our Friday night dinner. Sean loved helping put it all together. We added a little veggie and olives because the kit came with only pepperoni.

Mmm. Pizza. 

Friday night is always a good night for a movie, so we went to the store and found "Gulliver's Travels." Pretty cute. Chuck wanted us to come back Saturday for breakfast, and we had a full day planned for all of us.
He always puts on a big spread for breakfast. It was cinnamon rolls, French toast, sausage and eggs. I brought Greek yogurt, granola and fresh berries. (I know, healthy.) We all had a little bit of everything and it was really good. Plus he has this beautiful antique china he used and the table was gorgeous. I'll post about it again soon.

After breakfast Sean and Chuck went outside to work and Sean came in and told me about a slingshot he saw at the store while he was with Chuck. I suggested he could make one and Chuck could probably help him.

We walked the property to find just the right tree with the right kind of branch. Chuck took a saw and next thing I knew they were in the house again with the base of it, needing someone with sewing ability to make the cloth to attach to the rubber band for the sling. 

I'll post about this again later. We left it at Chuck's and I don't have a good photo of it.

That morning I took Lilly to shop for a new dress. Dad gave us money and we took off. The thought was to get a dress she could wear to church, but she's still not really comfortable with the idea of going to church with us yet.

But we lucked out on the shopping trip with a big sale at the store Justice. She got a couple of skirts, a pair of really cute shorts and two tops. She tried on a lot of stuff and we had fun oohing and ahhing over some of the styles.

On the way back Lilly asked if Sean and I could spend the night. She offered her bed for him and I said we'd see what he thought of it.

When we got back, the guys had been working on the property with the backhoe and were already planting some trees on the lower end. The plan is to devote part of the property to trees and within five or six years have a Christmas Tree farm.

Sean had a great time driving the backhoe. He helped keep the fire going to burn some of the brush and they worked outside most of the day.

They took a break to come in and color Easter eggs. Chuck had 36 eggs to color.

Sean and Lilly coloring the eggs.

We all had a great time coloring eggs and getting creative. We like the little sleeves that dip into hot water and shrink around the eggs. 

After the egg activity, Chuck and Sean went back outside to work some more.
Sean came in around dinner time and said he didn't feel well. I mentioned spending the night, and mabye he and Lilly could make a blanket fort or something. It wasn't 30 minutes later and he fell asleep. Chuck, Lilly and I watched another movie, "Uptown Girls" while Sean slept. It was good. Then it was really bedtime. Sean was still asleep on the couch, so the rest of us went to bed.

We woke up Easter morning and the Easter Bunny had left a basket for Sean and Lilly.

Sean got a magnet kit to paint, and Lilly got a friends bracelet kit.

Chuck, Sean and I got to church in time for the youth breakfast of pancakes and sausage. Church was packed, of course, and it was a really nice service.

On the way back from church we stopped to visit my grandma for a little while, then headed back to Chuck's for the day. We wanted to hide eggs, and have a nice Easter celebration. It was rainy, but we made the best of it and the kids went out to find eggs when it had stopped raining.

Lilly and Sean had a great time searching for eggs in the yard.

The guys worked outside a little bit more and Lilly and I watched "Tangled," until it was time for me to start dinner. I had a recipe for rack of lamb and fried artichoke hearts. I had never made either of those things, but it didn't sound very difficult.
Chuck helped me trim the artichokes and we followed the recipe exactly. The only difference could have been the recipe called for baby artichokes, and the only ones I could find were probably not baby artichokes. That part of the dinner was a big fail. It sounded really good, and maybe it is good with baby artichokes. Ours weren't cooked enough, and I'm not sure they are worth all of the work to peel it down to the good part.
They look pretty, though.

I should have taken a picture of them in the serving bowl. It was really pretty.

The lamb turned out really nice, but a bit undercooked. Chuck sliced it and we put it back into the oven for a few minutes. The recipe called for medium rare, but I don't like meat much in the first place. Dripping blood is not appealing to me at all.

We had a great weekend together. Not sure if the artichokes will make it into the Easter tradition, but the egg coloring was a hit. The kids seem to be a bit vegetarian, so the next holiday meal I'll incorporate more veggies into the plan.

Rain? HA, we laugh at rain!

Chuck got us tickets to the Tacoma Rainiers vs. the Sacramento River Cats game last night. The firefighters union had a party deck reserved, and we thought it'd be a fun thing to do.
As we approached the turn to the parking lot we realized all those cars that were backed up to the last on ramp were in line for that turn. So we made our way to the next option, and that lot was full. We had to park at a nearby high school and walk.
You must understand something about our Pacific Northwest climate. It's gray. Almost all the time.
So the day had been gray, but not wet. By this time it was starting to drizzle, and we weren't sure what the party deck was like. They recently finished renovations at Cheney Stadium. You can read about it and see photos here.
We got to the gate and made our way to the party deck area and were told our party deck was at the top. Yeah, none of those party decks are covered. And it was starting to sort of rain and the wind was picking up.
The umbrellas that are clearly not effective for keeping the rain off of anyone sitting at the tables made it worse.
Not whining or complaining, just sayin'.

These umbrellas were just big enough to almost protect the table, but anyone sitting or standing at the table had a constant drip on their head or back. 

On the way to the gate.

Military aircraft doing a fly over to say good luck to the Rainiers.

Play Ball! We're not made of sugar.

We're pretty tough and used to being damp and cold, but after a while it was just too much for us. I looked around and even the kids were hunched over trying to stay dry. It was too distracting trying to keep our food from getting soggy and our hands from freezing to pay attention to the game very much.
We stayed until we couldn't stand it anymore, then made our way back to the car.
Rainiers lost 6-5. But I don't call it a total fail. We had a nice walk, saw some people I hadn't seen in a while, and Chuck and Sean got to eat ballpark food.

Island hop

So on Friday we took off for Vashon Island to see the bicycle in the tree.
We've been wanting to see this for a while. We've been reading a book by Berkeley Breathed, "Red Ranger Came Calling," for a few years. You can read about it and other Berkeley Breathed books here. 
I've blogged about this before, and our excursion to Seattle to see the play based on the book put on by Book-It Theatre. (Lots of fun!!)
You can read more about Book-It Repertory Theatre here.
Since reading the book and seeing the play this Christmas we've talked about exploring Vashon to find the bicycle. Last week Chuck was off, I had a little bit of time, and Lilly was here for a few extra days. It was the perfect time to go.
The weather was awesome! We've had a lot of rain, but Friday was beautiful.
If you ever get to Vashon and want to see the bicycle, go to the left as you exit the ferry and keep going until you come to a stop sign. Stop at the little store on the left side of the road for directions.
We pulled into the parking lot of an old broken down building and the bicycle was in the forest behind that building.
Here's a little tour in pictures:

We love to ride the ferry. 

Almost ready to dock at Vashon.

There's a creek, or mushy wet area, you have to walk over to get to the bike. You can see the back wheel in the tree.

A distant view of the treed bike that was supposed to be a Tweed Bike.

It's real. And old.

Sean was convinced Santa put that bike there.

After getting a good look at the bike it was time for lunch. The nice lady at the little store told us about some food places in town. We ate at Zoomies. The island has a mix of all different types of people, and as you can imagine, some crunchies that I can relate to. I ordered the veggie burger, thank you very much. Oh, and they have good ice cream there too. 

We hung out in town while the kids ate their ice cream and we visited a furniture shop. We've been looking at furniture, so we stopped in to take a look around. The kids loved one of the chairs that is like a bed. We had a tough time getting them out of it.

We had some time before the next ferry so we decided to explore the lighthouse on Maury Island. It was closed. It doesn't open until May, but the beach was great. 

Sean loved it.

Lilly found some ladybug friends.

Sean found some kids to play with.

I found this cool log to photograph.

All of those kids got wet and sandy when these big waves made it to shore. They didn't mind the 60 degree weather and the cold water. They ran through the surf and threw sand at each other for a while. Lilly opted out of that fun.

Luckily I had these pants in the car so Sean could have something dry. Once we got to Tacoma we stopped at a Goodwill to buy a new outfit.

We always have a great time together. It was a perfect day. (Lilly got this pic of Chuck.)

Time in the car.

Lilly.

Sean.

Boy Time

We've been talking for a while about what to do while Chuck had a week off. Sean wanted to make a trip to Monroe to the Reptile Zoo. It's one of our favorite places to visit, especially when the weather isn't fit for spending time outside.
Lilly was not interested in going, so we planned the trip for a day when she was not going to be with us. I kept Sean out of school that day and we headed out early.
He enjoys holding this certain snake while we're there. It's an albino corn snake. He would  like to have one of his own, but I'm not so excited about the idea. It seems like a lot of work to me.

Sean insisted Chuck had to have a turn at holding it too.

What is sexy?

I guess there are a lot of answers to that question.

I know some women find it sexy when a man recognizes their physical needs, emotional needs, maybe the need for more compliments.

Some women need a man who will shower them with compliments. They want a man who will tell them constantly how beautiful they are, how skinny they look in every outfit when asked. Even if they're wearing something that makes them look like they've swallowed an inner tube or have the rear end of a hippo. They find this man sexy.

Some women need a man who can read minds. They want a man who knows immediately when they are mad and why they are mad.

Some women need a man who will work from a list--the Honey Do list.

There is nothing wrong with any of that. I suppose all of those things could be sexy.

I take compliments when they are given and appreciate them, but have never been one to ask a question about how I look if I didn't want a truthful answer. I don't find false compliments sexy.

I don't need a man who can read my mind. I figure if I can't read his, he probably can't read mine. And I know that I cannot read minds. I'm intuitive, and that could be another blog post, but I really cannot read minds.

I don't need a man who works from a list that I create for him. I don't find that at all sexy.

I won't go into the physical needs. I don't really talk about these things with my female friends, so I don't know what they expect in that area.
And all I am willing to say about my own experience is: It's good.

But what I find equally sexy is a man who can see that I need my Chicago Cutlery knives sharpened. Without a word he brings his knife sharpener over to my house and sharpens every knife.

Sexy for me is a man who replaces the filter in my furnace without me asking. He just comes right in with three filters, places a new one in the furnace and stores the other two for the future.

And this man who will buy new windshield wipers and install them on my car without me knowing, and before I have to drive to a meeting in the rain--oh, wow. That is sexy.