Saturday, May 20, 2006

Saturday

Friday was actually overcast and finally cooler than it had been earlier in the week.  When I got off work at 3:30pm it was actually beginning to rain and continued thru the evening.  When I got home, I moved all the hanging baskets out from under the porch roof so they would get a good soaking.  Well, the rain didn't last long, in fact this morning everything was dried out again.   Today it was cooler than earlier in the week but sunny.  I WANT RAIN !!  Sunday afternoon, I'll be watering everything.

I went to lunch today (Red Lobster-yum) with a group of former co-workers. We all worked at a little hospital here in town that doesn't exist anymore.  We get together every few months.  One of group, Denise,  is moving away, back to Pennsylvania so it was the last time she'll be able to join us unless we can catch up with her when she comes out to visit.  We always have such a good time...it's nice to "catch-up."

After I left the Red Lobster, I delivered an Avon, mailed some bills and stopped at Safeway and bought few groceries.  I also filled up the gas tank ...it was only down to not quite half full but I figure if I wait until it's almost empty, it costs too much. I guess I'd rather take care of it in small increments.  Anyway, I found some for $3.10 a gallon at a Shell station near my house.

This evening, I had an evening out with Connie, one of the nurses that works in the office where I work now.  One of our mutual friends works part time at the Boys & Girls Clubs Bingo.  We have talked about going to bingo when our friend Jan was working to surprise her, so tonight we did it.  Connie is going to retire the end of July and move to Ohio, so we figured time was slipping away.  Well, this was my first time to go play Bingo and it was fun.  I was very tired & thanks to Connie I managed to keep up with the numbers.  I only put out $10.00 for cards so didn't have too many to watch but it kept me on my toes.   I'm happy to say this first time Bingo player won $62.50.  Had I got the $20 packet of cards, it would have been $125.  But that's ok.  There was one win of $500 but I wasn't the one to win the big bucks.   Anyway, our friend Jan was very surprised when we came strolling in...what was really funny was, Jan was one of the gals I had lunch with earlier today and I gave her no indication that I'd be seeing her later in the evening.

The late night newscaster is reporting that Mt St Helens blew off a big steam cloudtoday.  Since it was clear and sunny the plume was seen clear down in Portland, Oregon.  This next week is the 26th anniversary of the big eruption.  I certainly remember that Sunday afternoon, all those many years ago.  Even tho most of the ash went over the Cascades to eastern Washington (and of course in the area around the mountain) we did get ash, here in the Puget Sound area, even tho we are north of the site.

I wanted to tell you that I finished reading the newest book by Oregon author, Jane Kirkpatrick.  It's titled "A Clearing in the Wild" and was just released in April.  It is so good...I highly recommend it to all of you out there.  It's based on a true story of a 1850's religious community living in Bethel, Missouri that decided to relocate in the west.  The one thing I love about Jane's books is that most of them tell the story of those who came to the Oregon, Idaho, Washington area's from the east side of the Rocky Mountains.   In this latest book the first group (the scouts) that come out to research the area come to Fort Steilacoom (Still-ah-come). The present town of Steilacoom is approximately 6 1/2 miles from my front door.   These dear folks then traveled on to the Willapa Harbor area, which is south east of here off the Pacific ocean.  Jane does a wonderful job of describing the living conditions and hardships these people had to put up with.  I still can't even imagine how awful it was.  I know how cold and wet it can get in this part of the country, especially in the winter. And of course they had none of the things we do to make their lives easy.   Anyway, if you are interested, you can order this book directly from Jane.  You don't even have to make a trip to the book store.   Her web site is; http://www.jkbooks.com/

Finally (and then I'm going down the hall with my book and my kitty) I'm happy to announce that AOL is finally offering High Speed in my area.  I got a card in the mail today and immediately called them up.  I should be getting the thing-a ma-jig in the mail in about a week.  It's a partnership between AOL and Qwest, my phone company and costs the same as what I'm paying now.  I'm sure it will make everything much faster for me and am anxious to get it working.  Anyway, it's very late (the gals over there in the U.K. are probably up eating their Sunday breakfast) so I'm off to bed.  Until next time...........Linda

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

We certainly could use some rain. The cloud that blew up this afternoon brought ll the pomp and circumstance but very little rain.  We just have the heat these past few days.  Congrats on the Bingo win!  I used to play all the time with my MIL...she is an old pro at it.  LOL AND She sold Avon for over 25 years! She was always VERY lucky. She used to play almot every night, but at nearly 93, she rarely goes anymore.  
  I don't know if I told you before, but my oldest son lived in Steilacoom when he was stationed at FT. Lewis.  I loved that area. They had a sweet little apt surrounded by huge pines.  It was incredible to go out on their little balcony in the morning with a cup of coffee.  
 Hope the rest of your weekend is pleasant! Barb

Anonymous said...

Linda hope you get some rain we are at the moment having quite a few downpours here ~ which I am told are badly needed ~ Glad you have your reunions with former co~workers it is nice to keep in contact with old friends and colleagues ~ hope you had a good nights sleep ~ Ally

Anonymous said...

Well if it was at all possible We could let you have some of our rain,we are getting it every day ,usually around the time I'm planning to go out ,You sound as though you are having a fun time, lunch with co workers ,Bingo !I had my fill of Bingo whilst at work so forgive me for not getting excited about that lol...I would like to read the book you recommend though, that does sound like a good read ..........Jan xx

Anonymous said...

I thought you'd be sick of rain after all you had this past winter! A friend of mine was in the Mt St Helens area when it blew in the 80's, we even had the ash come over to the UK!! Glad you got a win at bingo, well done! The book sounds a good read. I flew to Denver a few years back sitting next to a man whose great grandparents did the Oregon trail on a wagon train, he had their diary which told of the hardships they suffered on the way. It made my trip over the Atlantic go so fast listening to his stories of them! Have a great sunday. Jeannette xx  http://journals.aol.co.uk/jlocorriere05/Welcometomytravels

Anonymous said...

Hi Linda,

It`s so cold and miserable here,  please, please send us some of your lovely warm weather.  It feels more like Winter here.  Well done on your first bingo win! :o)

Sandra xxxx

Anonymous said...

Rain, today!  Jae