No, I didn’t leave the country!

It’s been forever since I posted an entry.  Everyday I feel more guilty and everyday something new pops up and I get distracted.

I know many of you are still experiencing really horrendous wintery weather.  My buddy DB and I share temperatures and weather conditions several times a week….so I know what’s happening in PA.  Western Washington has had a very mild winter.  Some rain, some wind and lots of days in the middle 40’s to middle 50’s.  Not bad for winter.  The winter of 2008/2009 saw snow from November thru April.   We only had one little dusting so far and that was back the first of December.  I now have daffodils blooming and everything else is either sprouting or in bud. 

I have this huge cedar tree in my front yard & the branches have been inching towards my house for a couple years now.  Two falls in a row I’ve asked the park manger about having that tree trimmed.  Well, they finally came and trimmed it last month. 

They left behind the bigger branches which we dragged over under the carport and then Bob cut them up & they are now stacked & drying ~ a good start to next winter’s wood supply.

 

I think they got a little carried away with the branch trimming but they were the professionals.  At least I won’t have to worry about the limbs ripping the gutters off my house.  And the mail man can pull up to my mailbox and not have the lower limbs rubbing on the roof of his truck.

The big event we’re looking forward to is my son’s wedding on March 12th.   The afternoon/evening of Wednesday March 10th this groom’s mother will be cooking dinner for between 50 & 60 people who will be at the rehearsal.  There’s only two people in the wedding party~my brother will be the best man and her mother will be the matron of honor.  But she’s had so many people helping out and when you start adding spouses and significant other’s the number of people start rising.   This is their official engagement picture, taken at Point Defiance Park here in Tacoma, WA last September by my one and only grand daughter.  She did a beautiful job with their pictures…..this is just one of a couple hundred she took that day.

Besides Bob, two of my girlfriends and my sister in law will be helping me with the dinner preparations.  All this is taking place in Olympia which is about 25 miles south of here.  Then on Thursday I’ll be making the cake that they will be cutting at the reception. Jeralyn is gluten intolerant so we’ve been testing different gluten free recipes and I finally found a good one on “Bob’s Red Mill” web site.   Thankfully, I was able to find all the ingredients at my local favorite grocery store so have everything on hand to make their special cake.   They have ordered a regular cake for the wedding guests to enjoy.  Then Friday is the big day.  Their wedding starts at 6:30pm Friday evening and promises to be a blessed celebration! (Pictures to follow after I rest up from Wednesday, Thursday & Friday)

I found this really cute picture, taken in December 1971….the best man (my brother) holding the groom (my son) with my brother’s girlfriend (who became his wife a year later) sitting nearby.

We’ve all gotten a lot of chuckles out of this picture.

Besides his wedding, my son has also been blessed with a new job.  He’s been working at a large print shop for 17 years.  He’s done well there, but was looking for something new and something in Olympia where he’ll be living.  A couple weeks ago he got a call from the State of Washington offering him a job he’d applied for in the Department of Revenue.  So Friday March 5th was his last day of work at the print shop.  He’ll still need to commute to Tacoma a few days a month (thru June) while he finishes up the IT Tech course at Tacoma Community College.

In other news, the plans for my August 7th 50th class reunion are in place.  The venue has been selected, deposits paid and all the mailings have been sent.  The checks are coming in along with the completed bio questionnaires. I’m going to be creating the memory book and I’ve received the first batch of 9 completed bios.  (We mailed out 240, so it will be interesting to see how many come back).  I can see that this is going to be a tedious job. When I created the questionnaire, I put across the top in bold letters “Please write or print legibly”  Well, out of the first 9, I can read one clearly and part of another one. Can’t people read instructions?  I may end up having to call folks for an interpretation of the form they filled out.  Meanwhile, I’ve put those first 9 away until after the wedding.  I’m not going to worry about them now.  

Our winter weather has been more like spring, especially the last few months. I know many of you have been “dumped on” by old man winter, over & over again.  While here in the Pacific northwest, we’ve had sunny days with temps in the middle 40’s to high 50’s.  Yes, we’ve had some rainy days too but far less than we usually have.  I guess after the winter of 2008/2009 where it snowed off and on clear into April ~ the old man decided to give us a break this time.

This next week also marks the anniversary of my little Gabi’s trip over the Rainbow Bridge.  It was March 11, 2009.  I still miss her a lot but have decided that I will remain “pet free” for now.  A great little terrier moved in next to me and when we’re both outside at the same time, I get lots of loving from him.  And some neighbors have a cat that comes calling frequently and loves to sit on my lap if I’m sitting out on the porch.  And with this wedding, I’m acquiring two step grand cats~Eddie and Smudge.  The only problem is, they live in Olympia . 

Sorry this is so long but I feel so guilty that I haven’t posted in awhile.  I’ll be back with a regular entry in a week or so with some pictures from the wedding.   Until next time……..Linda