Retreat is a treat

Yesterday was the Key Peninsula News retreat. I used it as a day to talk about where we've been, where we are and where we're going. I scheduled one guest speaker ( a retired attorney) who talked to us about defamation. None of the people on staff have had journalism classes, so this subject is somewhat new for them. I think they know about libel and slander in general, but George Robison gave us some great information and sited specific cases in his presentation. (He made it clear he wasn't giving legal advice, only teaching us about the subject.)
Lori, our ad rep, graciously offered her farm as the location for the retreat. It was a beautiful day, and a lovely setting. It was a treat just to hang out there for the afternoon.
Her farm is beautiful. We had a delicious light breakfast as people arrived, and I decided this year to have the event catered. Last year we had it at the home of one of the volunteers and it was sort of potluck with sandwich trays, etc. I chose not to buy gifts for staff this year, and instead put the money into the food and have a "staff appreciation lunch."  I have to say that my assistant editor was instrumental in securing the caterer and did a wonderful job of working with Lori to make sure everything came together.

This is where you walk up to the small pavilion. That's a little rock wall with a small rock stairway between the flowers.

Here's where we had our speakers of the day, and light breakfast and lunch.

I didn't get a photo of it, but Lori made scones from scratch with homemade marmalade and berry preserves, and the coffee was from Ravensara, a local coffee shop.

The small pavilion is positioned in the middle of the vineyard. 

Chef Dorne Webster prepared Salade Nicoise featuring grilled salmon. DELISH!!We also had lemonade, tea, water and a sampling of Lori's wine. 

I think it was a great day. We had good information throughout the day, from libel, to what we're doing with social media, and plans for our new web site.

Here's the view of the water and Mt. Rainier from the grounds. We didn't have this view from the pavilion, but we took a little walk around the farm at the end of the day. 

New attitude

I'm procrastinating. I have about an hour before I have to make a trip to Tacoma, and I should be working on my presentations for the staff retreat tomorrow.
I work best under pressure, though I sometimes push it a little too far and almost kill myself to make a deadline.
When I'm working on deadline, I'm in a zone. I think the house could crash down around me and I'd barely notice. When I step back and look at what is happening from an outside point of view, I imagine people would think I'm insane. Maybe I am.
There's a quote from the movie Barfly, "Anyone who could ever write worth a damn could never write in peace."
I should have a house full of Pulitzers.
Here's what my day looks like:
I run Sean where he has to be, come home and work a couple of hours, then rush back out to pick him up. We get home, and Sean and his friends play nerf guns, complete with sound effects and whoops and screams, trampling through the house to take cover, or hide. Nerf bullets whiz through the air, sometimes past my head. They call out to me for more juice, a snack that is out of reach, or help fixing a jammed nerf gun. They argue, they yell, sometimes one of them gets hurt and I have to intervene. This all takes place around me as I write and edit.
So this is my life. And I love it. Some days not as much as others, but all told, I like having children around me. In fact, I prefer this over an office filled with adults who ACT like children--and not in a good way.

Now, I have never been a great housekeeper. I just admit it. I like having a clean home, I just am not very good at keeping it that way. And during deadline? you can forget about it. Once deadline is over, I'm a cleaning fool. All those things that didn't get done, like sweeping, mopping, taking out the recycle (I can't deal with trash, so we do get that outta here) laundry, vacuuming, all of that gets done the day after I'm off deadline.

Not so long ago, I would have never let anyone into my home in the condition it is in today. It is in a shambles. Sean's shoes are scattered in the middle of the floor, together mind you, but still in the middle of the floor. There's stuff on the dining room table, there's a bike in the entry and you can barely get the door open, we have a large cooler sitting in the area between my bedroom and the kitchen, and there is junk, wrappers, and small toys on the coffee table. Oh, and those nerf guns are everywhere in the living room--chair, sofa, table, floor, everywhere. He has an arsenal. (Don't like guns? Don't come here. I have done my best to be a peace teacher, it ain't happenin' here. This boy has guns in his blood. I keep trying though. I'll post about this gun thing soon.)

So, as I said, not so long ago I would never have let anyone in when the house is in this kind of shape.
Today a neighbor called to say she was bringing a catalog over.
Maybe it's the fatigue from working non-stop for days on end, maybe it's the insanity, a possibility I referred to already, or maybe I'm just ready to say &^%% it. You don't like it, I don't care. You have a problem with the way my house looks, then come on over and we'll have a cleaning party.
She came over, and I invited her in. Yep, I invited her INSIDE. She didn't really come in. She stood at the door, but she had full view of the whole mess. She seemed OK, but I wonder if inside she was horrified.:o)

Some people can do all of what I do and still maintain a beautiful home. I admit that I wish I could. I have just gotten to the point of acceptance. I accept that I can't, and I'm still OK. You know what? The world hasn't come to a screeching halt because I'm not a good housekeeper. Nobody has died because we have stuff on the table, and I don't think I'm a bad person because I have dishes in the sink.

Cleanliness is next to Godliness. Maybe. I tend to think I'm pretty close to God, and I see a lot of people who are pretty uptight about being clean and they don't seem to have that Godly glow.

Oh, and I didn't even talk about the back yard. I hope rain is not in the forecast. The yard. Now that's a subject I could go on about too. Another time.

A taste of summer

It was really hot last week. We had a couple of days in the high 80s, and that is pretty miserable for people who are native to this Pacific Northwest climate. For me it wasn't quite so bad. I really enjoyed the warmth.
Sean and his neighbor friend Kyle played with the water hose a lot, and even formed quite the mud puddle. I let them just have fun, but required that the puddle be filled back with dirt so we wouldn't have a pond in the yard. Honestly, I was happy he was able to play in the mud.

We spent the day with our friends Shane and Jacob-Joshua on Saturday. It was warm, though not quite

 as warm as it was on Thursday and Friday.  

We saw this deer as we entered their neighborhood. Shane says the new homes are on land that was wooded, so he deer is probably a bit confused. 

I kept wondering if he would go into the newly constructed home. He didn't, and instead he crossed the road and headed for the shrubs in the neighbor's yard.

The boys had fun playing in the pool while Shane and I looked through catalogs and chatted.

summer, finally

I'm wearing a tank top, and it feels so nice. We finally have some 80-degree days here.
We've shifted into summer attitudes and are a little more relaxed about everything. We're doing some fun things like trips to museums, etc.
A couple of tall ships docked in Port Orchard first, and then Gig Harbor back in June. We made the trip to see them in Port Orchard, but it was late in the evening and they weren't open for tours. We didn't get to do the tour in Gig Harbor either. We were at the Tall Ships Tacoma event in 2008, but I don't know if Sean remembers much about it. These two here offered sailing with cannons firing for about $65 or $70 I think. Fun, but not in my budget.

At the dock in Port Orchard.

Sean has been wanting a pair of roller blades. We stopped in for an impromptu quick look around at our favorite thrift store last month and found a pair of roller blades for $3. They looked like they had never been used, and Sean and I were pretty excited about the find. They adjust to four sizes. 

He started out on the carpet in the living room, then moved to the kitchen floor as he got more confident. Within about a day he was just rolling all over the place.

Taking a spin on grandma's carport. Believe it or not, this was taken in mid-June. 

Yes, we were still wearing coats. 

Sean took a two-week vacation to Calif. to visit with his dad's family. I stayed here and worked a lot, and made some new friends through a local women's meetup group. 

Today is hot for us, in the 80s. The poor dog is miserable, so I went out and clipped a lot of her fur today. I didn't get a photo of that. I don't think you'd even want to see how much I cut ;o)

Ahh! What is that, I'm blind!

Talking about the weather is so boring. I hate to do it, but we have had a lot of gray days, so when we get a sunny day it is a really BIG deal to us. It always seems so bright when we've had so many days of gray and the sun finally appears.
Saturday was beautiful. First day in many that the sun was shining.
We went to the zoo with some friends and played for a while. I was pretty disappointed when Sean had had enough and wanted to go home. We spent a little time at his friend's house, and the boys wanted to play inside and watch cartoons.
Go figure.
I was able to capture a few shots at the zoo, and Sean took a lot of photos of animals.

I'm cheating a little on this one. I took one of this stained glass window in the aquarium during our last visit to the zoo. 

We love to visit the touch tank. There are always star fish, sea urchins, anemones and sometimes hermit crabs. We like to see what each one feels like, but boy is that water cold. It's pumped in from Puget Sound, and the temps are about 50 degrees on a warm day. 

We've never done this dress up activity before, so that was something new and fun. Sean was an octopus and his friend Jacob-Joshua became a sea urchin. They had lots of really cute sea creature costumes.

It was a busy day, and we were invited to dinner with other friends. I didn't get any photos there, and wish I had. My friend Kevin spent the evening playing outside with the boys while his wife and I talked. We had a great time.

This week will be busy too. Meetings, social engagements and stories to write.

A favorite boy

Today my oldest celebrates his 25th birthday.
Time is funny. Sometimes it seems to go by very slowly, and in the case of children growing up it goes so quickly.
When he started Kindergarten, I couldn't believe David was already going to school. When he entered 6th grade, I was sad to see the elementary years gone so quickly. As he made his way to the high school campus, it was difficult to imagine that I had a kid in high school.
Sitting beside him as he practiced for his driving test was surreal.  He was a great student, and always had high scores on his tests, scoring in the 95th percentile or above usually.
Before I could turn around he was old enough to vote.
Now he is shopping for his first home, and he is clearly a grownup.
I always told him, "You're my favorite boy Dave." Which was kind of a joke, because back then he was my only boy. Then he became my favorite young man. He has always been a great kid, and I'm so proud of him. Not just because he's smart, but because he's such a great person.
I've been searching for some earlier pictures, but this is the earliest one I've found so far. He's about 10 months in this one, sitting with my brother.

Happy Birthday Dave! It's your day, and I am so blessed to have you as my oldest son.

Anticipation, excitement and nostalgia

In about seven months my daughter's life will change, and I will add another name to my list of titles. Jewel is 12 weeks pregnant, and I am excited for everything that a baby will bring for her. She is happy, Bjorn is happy and I welcome this new role for myself with open arms. I wonder if I'll be Grandma, Granny, or what name this new little person will give me. My mother was grandma to all three of my kids until Sean pronounced her Nanna when he was 2.
I wish I could live closer to Jewel. That will be a difficult part of this new chapter of life, I'm sure. There's nothing like the day-to-day living that bonds a family, but I am thankful for telephone conversations, and all of the things like Skype and Facebook that keep us connected.
David will be celebrating a birthday on Sunday, and he is looking for a home to purchase. I'm excited for him too.
I know it is such a cliche, but it is amazing how fast time flies. I have enjoyed all of my children at each stage, but I am keenly aware of how quickly childhood passes as I watch Sean experiencing things.
He's at a stage now for making rules to games. I remember studying this stage in child psychology. They enjoy games, and want to make up their own games with their own rules.
I've been blessed to have such kind and wonderful children. They are all lovely and caring and so intelligent. I don't think I could have a better set if I had been able to place an order. Each one is unique, and  the only thing I want for all three is that they live to the potential that God has planned for them.