Back to Burnt Bridge Creek Trail

2016 wasn't a year of many hikes or walks.  So this year we are making an effort to get more in.  So the weather was beautiful today.  After work I picked up the littles and we headed to the Burnt Bridge Creek Trail and walked a bit.  It was getting dark so we only did a small walk, but we got out there and did it.  We found where the rocks were place to make a heart.  The little woman fixed it so it was complete again.  We watched ducks and met dogs and played in the vines.
Afterwards we checked out the remodel at Arby's.  They moved the restrooms inside.  Best thing ever. I always hated their outside restrooms.  We ran into George's little brother.  Reintroduced myself and amazingly enough he vaguely remembered me.  He had to be about four years-old when I met him the first time.

Rifle

Sometime in 2015 my mom decided that Elizabeth should have one of her rifles.  And one was picked out.  I know nothing about them, so I have no idea if it was Mom's, Dad's, or some other one.  There are five.  

My brother was here and we got into the gun safe and pulled out that rifle and took a picture and then he took a picture of the 38 special that my parents got from family friends.  He commented on the rifle being for Elizabeth.  

My gut reaction anymore is why?  Elizabeth, nor Tanya have been to see Grammy.  They haven't seen her since a ten minute stop here Xmas 2015.  They haven't texted or called and asked how she is.  They know she has dementia.  Maybe it is that living death thing.  But either way.......why should she now be rewarded with something that could pass down to Connor or Elizabeth who I assume will be around Grammy till she dies.  

And maybe that is just bad on my part.  Maybe I shouldn't feel that way.  But it is hard not to, when the last family dinner we had Mom asked them to take her shopping and she was turned down flat.  So why??  

In the end it will be up to Pat if she gets the rifle or not.  I doubt she is interested at the moment since she is looking at going to CA for school.  So I can't see anything happening any time soon anyway.

New Vendor

We have a new vendor at work for our candy, grocery type items, etc.  This vendor requires a really big order.  We have been using them about a month or so.  I have watched Liz struggle with the receiving on it.  She thought things were finally getting better as the kinks are worked out.
So today was my shot at it.  Now granted I only had to do half of it as Liz had already done the frozen and perishables before I got there.  I did it exactly how she told me and it was pretty easy.  Still took me a couple of hours to get it all ready, but I handled it.  And I didn't get any surprise problems.  :P
The hope was that I got a taste of it before Liz's vacation so I can handle it when she is gone.  It's all good.

Happy Birthday Elizabeth

Eighteen.  It's a lifetime and a blink of an eye.  Happy birthday Elizabeth.  Such a big part of my life for such a long time.  I am filled with memories.    All those days I babysat her before she started school.  We went to parks and played.  She learned how to climb a rock wall.
Then we had a break after school started.  School sometimes puts a damper on playing.  So we started having Nana days when she was nine because I just missed her so much.  And what great days those were.  She learned some horse basics.  She learned some woodworking and gardening from Papa.  We went to many restaurants, parks, rodeo.  We explored our world and had a great time.
She grew and changed and found many interests.  Here is to hoping that she continues to live life with gusto.  That she doesn't let fear hold her back.  If you fear it, then maybe you need to do it.  No growth happens if you stagnate.  So continued growth and newer and newer interests.  I only wish the best for her in all her endeavors and that the things that fail do not define her.  I hope she has the grit to get back up and try again.
Happy happy birthday Elizabeth.  I love you.

Target Practice Plan

I asked my friend Doug if we can make a plan to target shooting.  He said sure when it warms up.  Naturally.  I don't want to go up in the hills and stand outside in the freezing cold.  Anyway he is going to do some scouting and find out where it is still all right for us to do that.
So I mention it to my brother.  He tells me that I can shoot the cute little 38 special.  Then he tells me it is small but it should still have a nice kick to it.  Well I don't like kick too much.  So now I have to ask Doug if he has something small that is in the parameters of what I like and can use.  And if not, it may mean I need to buy something.  And that just feels bizarre.
Oh and then my brother says....can he come?

Marti, Halestorm, and Karen

I had the day off and it wasn't already booked up with mundane tasks or Mom stuff.  So I connected with Marti to see if she was free.  She met me in BG and we ate lunch at the Hockinson Cafe.  Then we drove down to the other side of town and poked around in all the shops.  And they were wonderful  And then they were the same.  Marti started commenting on the patterns of every nook and cranny.  She did find a few things to buy in the first store and then after that we just browsed.  I enjoyed it as I had not been in any of them except for the first one.  It was kind of funny because one of the people involved in the first one was one of our old neighbors.
After I picked up the littles, we went and picked up Aunt Traci.  Driving back home we passed David's house and he was outside.  We chatted for a minute.  I liked his new paint job on his house much more in person.  On my computer it looked really pumpkiny orange but in real life it was more coppery.  He was well and happy and so happy to be creating his home with Diana.  It does my heart good to see my friends happy.
Aunt Traci was babysitting and I did not have specific plans.  Pat was already having dinner with Mom so I couldn't join them.  I did see him later though.  It hit me that I needed to go visit Karen.  She hadn't been on facebook for awhile and neither had her husband Sam.  Well naturally she was sound asleep.  Now I am flat out of the mind that anyone sleeping is doing what they need.  Sam caught me up and it isn't good news.  Her cancer is spreading and she gets tired very quickly.  I had a nice sad visit with Sam though and I will have to make an effort to get over again when Karen is awake.  She has been my friend from the time I was about 17 years old.  That is a long time.  She wasn't one of those friends who just pass through your life.
And while driving.....I remembered that I hadn't tried to make my phone work with my car yet to listen to my new CD.  Hahahahahahah.  All I had to do with use the cord to connect the phone to the car and it played.  But imagine my surprise when in the middle of listening to Halestorm, Graffiti 6 played.  I did not think I had downloaded it to my phone and maybe I didn't.  I have noticed things become interchangeable with the phone and the ipads.
It was a day of old friends and old neighbors.  Melancholy, sad, life, living.  Thankful for all of it.  Laughing with Marti, sitting with Sam, talking with David.  And when I was done I hugged the littles tight as they are the future and I want them to feel love.

Game Night

The Math Academy at Maple Grove sponsored Game Night and offered up free pizza and cookies.  We went and ended up sitting with my friend Jeremiah and his son, seen in the second picture.  Jeremiah started off on the stage while some other people were using our table.  It felt unusual to actually see someone I knew at this function.  I thought it was funny that his little man and my little man were wearing the same jacket.
We played some board games, ate some pizza and then played a game the math academy people taught us.  It was exciting.  I'm not sure the kids knew they were using math skills to play.  And that is the objective.
Afterwards we took some of the instructions home with us and will try some of them at home. I'm also thinking it is time to get another Mancala game.  I really liked it and I'm sure the littles will also.  Best part about it is it is easy or complicated.
Thank you Mr. Christel and all the math academy tutors.  And thank you Maple Grove.  It was a fun evening.

Circles and Triangles

My brother and I were talking about older days.  He commented about not missing some of the people in his circle at that time.  Some of that circle are still around and he is aware of them.  I commented that I no longer had any circles.  He agreed.
He told me I had a triangle.  It was kind of an epiphany.  I have commented many times about expanding our world.  And I think this is what I meant.  But it is easier said than done.  I don't trust most people.  And the ones I bring into my world I have to think about how they affect the littles.  Because when it comes down to it, in all things, the littles are the most important part of my triangle. And I concern myself with how the littles will affect others.  As they have grown they are getting better behaved.  I can pretty much take the little woman anywhere now and know she won't get too exuberant and break things or annoy people with her noise.  She can be quiet.
I would rather keep my triangle if it means happy healthy children.  And that is the ultimate goal.

The Lightbulb Glows

It always amazes me when things click.  The little woman is moving forward in leaps and bounds with her math and her reading.  I get a better sense of it when we take the little man out of the equation. He fell asleep early last night so we got to do homework in peace.  And then today he was distracted with other things.
She is using her clues on the page to read and sounding words out.  The pattern of adding and subtracting seems to have just clicked for her.  Like the lightbulb got turned on.  She is doing so well.
At home we are not necessarily the greatest at getting homework done on a consistent basis.  Sometimes we do several days in one sitting.  But we do work on it.  And then above and beyond we have our maps hanging and we look where places are.  Lately I have started taping her sight words on the maps (because they come off easy).  She has 175 words that she is suppose to know by the end of first grade.  I have no idea how many she knows right now, but she knows a good amount.
I just love it when her lighbulb glows.  She is my artistic girl, but she still has to know a whole bunch of other stuff.  And I always always maintain....that if you know how to read...you can learn anything.

Forward

The little man and I stayed home and worked on the living room.  Now that the tree is gone and the toy chest gone it was looking off.  We vacuumed everywhere as we moved the furniture that is left.  I think I am not replacing anything.  We like it how it ended up.  And funny thing about that...the couch is where Mom had it and the chair is where her chair used to be.  Gives us the most floor room.
Then after the little woman got home we walked to the store going the long way.  We found some really cool little cones. Saw a squirrel run up a tree with a mouth full of something white.  The object was to get us outside and moving.  It was lovely and I enjoyed it.  We tried to find the little woman's scooter, although I knew it would be a slim chance.  It was left at the Senior Apartments a couple of months ago.  Good to get out.

And It Starts

The little man spent the night at the Uncle's house last night.  That freed me up this morning to get started on some decluttering.  Pulled a box out of the kitchen.  Emptied one of my boxes and got everything put away.  It is much easier to do things when I am down a child.  I don't spend so much time refereeing.
I still might have to have a garage sale.  Now that is not a prospect I look forward to.  But it may just be necessary.

An Afternoon Off

Aunt Traci is down visiting her friend again.  She let me know a few weeks ago that she was coming and offered to babysit.  So naturally I took her up on the offer.
My brother came and we loaded up my dump stuff.  Yay!  It looks much better in front on the garage door now.  He said the dump was busy busy, so we opted to not go and he will take the load on Monday.  Then we headed to the theater to watch the latest Jack Reacher movie.  It was all right.  We saw it at the ten theater so it was a cheap show.
Went and saw Mom since I didn't have kids.
All in all a good afternoon off.  :)

Little Man Time

Had the day off so the little man and I went out for breakfast after the little woman went to school.  We had pancakes.  We talked and played.
Then we went to Costco.  We had actually ran out of peanut butter.  We never run out of peanut butter.  Since we no longer get WIC, we did.  So Costco had it on sale.  We had a list of two things with a price check on a third.  We left with three items.  Only the items on our list.
Then we came home and took a nice nap after lunch.  It was wonderful little man time.

A Shift

I was watching a the documentary called "Minimalism" and I felt a shift take place.  It reminded me of my roots.  And I felt the need to get back to some of them.  It felt right.
I've had a little time to reflect and again just thinking about how to make it work feels like a weight lifting.  A hope and new beginning starting.
I've never been a true minimalist.  I can't live with one chair and a lamp.  But living in a household that has essentially two households in it is driving me batty.  I still find it hard to move Mom's stuff out.  I'm not sure she has even noticed what has left the times she has been here.  But it really is time for more to go so I can get on with creating a home for the littles.  We will have more time and space if we aren't dealing with so much stuff.  And we will have less to move when that time comes.  Always a plus.
This I know.  This we are going to work on.

Lunch With Mom

Made plans with Mom to go out to lunch today.  So I went and collected her.  The parking lot still has slick spots so right off the bat she fell.  I had a hold of her so it was a slow descent.  We went back in so she could be checked out and change.
Then we went over to Applebee's.  They keep changing their menus.  She was not happy.  She couldn't really find anything that she wanted to eat.  Ended up with a burger and some french onion soup. While the food was fine, I don't think we will be going back.  Their menu is just too complicated for her now.  She also thought they were way too expensive.  They weren't.

Oy

My child who is very smart, is pretty stupid.  He still thinks he is going to win.  He tested positive for gunshot residue.  Still claims he didn't fire the gun.  Well maybe not, but he very obviously has touched a gun.  And that is all they really need to prove to convict on the possession of a weapon ex-con.
I'm still of the mind that he needs to do this....go away for longer than six or eight months.
And as harsh as it is to say....I'm ready.  I'm tired of continuously dealing with this crap.  I love my son, but he truly is trying to drag us all down in the gutter with him.

Routine?

Went back to work today.  Worked for an hour and a half before we were sent home because of the freezing rain.
School started out on a late start but was then cancelled due to the threat of freezing rain.
Thought we were going to get back to routine.  Maybe tomorrow.  I don't know if we remember how to do our routine.  ;p

Wonderful Weather

We have a little bit of freezing rain predicted and then maybe some flooding.  Flooding always seems to follow some good snow.  So we shall see.
We have enjoyed the cold, the snow, the slow down.  We've gotten a little stir crazy but not too bad.  We roll with what life throws us and right now it is just slowing us down.  Taking our time.
When this is over though I think we may need a trip to Dizzy Castle to burn through a lot of that energy that is just here.
I am always grateful for the positives.  The bug populations should have gotten taken down a few notches.  We did have to slow down and I think it is good when our lives are so busy.  We got to make snow angels and watch freezing bubbles.  We played with the neighbor's dog in the snow.
I get a little sad at the ones who are complaining.  Life is never exactly as we want it to be and the best thing is learning how to roll with it.

Home

Okay we have been home for two days straight.  We have been no where else.  Just hanging at home.  We did manage to get all the laundry done and the toy chest is cleaned out.  The little man and I put all the tools in their correct spaces in my tool box.  And then we have vegged in front of the television.
I think tomorrow we venture out. Time to hit the grocery store.  Being home all day for a couple of days really wipes out the cupboards.  ;p

Bubbles

I watched a video on YouTube about bubbles freezing and though it would be cool to try and replicate it at home. Well we were not successful in doing the exact same thing.  But we blew lots of bubbles and tried to catch them without popping them.  You could see them freeze in the air and they floated differently and then would pop and you could watch the frozen piece of soap float down, Like a popped balloon but slowly.  All three of us thought it was pretty cool.  And no one ever said bubbles were only for sunny summer days.

And Again

Another snow day for the littles.  I was already scheduled to have the day off.  But since I had to go downtown anyway I stopped in at work to see if they needed help.  Liz said no and Brenda confirmed later that there was enough work for her to work till four.  That kind of tells me there wouldn't have been if we had both worked.
I picked Brenda up on my way to Vancouver so she wouldn't have to wait outside at work till someone got there.  Her mom had an appt. in Salmon Creek and it was on my way downtown.
It was another day when I got a nap.  Oh I just love naps.  Feeling spoiled.  Just reminding myself not to get used to it because they are infrequent now.

Ditto

The littles are having the best week.  It was another snow day.  They played out in the snow before I took them to daycare.  I had things I needed to do and it is much easier without hauling them in and out of the snow and slick parking lots.  The roads weren't too bad actually.
Had lunch with Mom and she enjoyed that.  Got some groceries so there was more to eat.  And then I picked them up and we had spaghetti for dinner.  Just a snow day.
Looks like more of the same for tomorrow except Clark is open.

Snow Days

"Get us dressed.  There is enough snow to make better snow angels."  But the snow didn't cooperate.  The little man could barely move his arms and legs once he plopped down in it.  So they just played and played.  Nathan brought Miley down and they loved on her for awhile.
The little woman got very cold and decided to go in.  The boys, dog and I walked over to the pond which was not frozen, but very slushy.  And of course, they had to walk in it.  Made for some cold feet and a quicker trip back to the house.
They went out again later in the day and played with the neighbor kids from next door.  Came in with rosy cheeks and tuckered out.  Who knew snow was a great thing to get rid of energy in kids.  ;p
Then we had the fun job of finding something for dinner.  We need to go grocery shopping.  There was not much left that is quick and easy and ate by at least two of us.  We ended up with tuna fish hot dish made with rotini noodles.  The little man still thinks it is chicken and I'm not telling him different.

Rushing

It just felt like a weird rush day.  Not nearly as busy as I expected except about 10 when we got a big influx of people.  Otherwise it just remained steady all day.  We saw the unicycle boys.  I asked if they were twins.  They are not.  Just brothers, going to college, riding unicycles.
Our favorite oldster Mary was back.  I hadn't seen her since spring and was a little worried about her.  She has a fancy new walker with a seat and said that is what made it to she could return to college.  She has been going here for a long time now.  Good to see her.
A lady came through with the best purple hair I have ever seen.   A couple of young lads were in with their mom and they were writing in journals.  The youngest was six and writing complete sentences.  Bet he is homeschooled.  A real little guy came through with his Siberian tiger named Ty.  He was pretty cute and so was Ty.
We caught up with each other and learned new things.  Geri spent a year teaching English in Tokyo.  Mary is a bit accident prone.  Brenda didn't think her parents were going to call me today.  They did yesterday because they thought she only worked till 3 and were worried about her.  She worked till 5.

Winter Rush 2017

Well the cold weather came again and left some freezing rain so Clark opened late today.  Reminiscent of last year.  We opened at 8 and got started on our day.  We did pretty good business but it didn't feel like an ordinary first day of winter rush.
I felt bad for Liz manning the warehouse today and having a mess with coremark....our new vendor of candy and snack type items.  It was a huge order and a mess.  Then our missing Cengage pallet showed up. So Monica pitched in and helped get those out.  I put some away in my last 15 minutes of the day.  We had been waiting a long time on the Spanish books.
Saw Cassidy, but I'm pretty sure she didn't remember who I was.  So happy to see her doing Running Start.  I think it is such a great program and its cool for any kid who can get in.

Technology Challenged

I'm beginning to suspect that I am not as technology challenged as I used to be.  I just managed to get my new CD onto my phone so I can listen to it in the car.  No CD player in the car.  I think people must be moving away from CD's and using their phones and other devices more to  listen to music.
So the next part of my challenge is to get my phone synced to my car and figure that part out..  Mike isn't around to show me.  He has it all figured out, but I was always driving when he did it.  But I shall prevail.  I really like the half of the CD that I have managed to listen to in the house on the computer.  But it's not a great way to listen to stuff because the littles make a lot of noise.  :p

White Christmas

The quarantine was finally lifted so we were able to celebrate Christmas with Mom.  I picked her up and then came home and cooked the dinner.  Our small ham was just fine and there was a little left over.  Methinks it becomes ham and scalloped potatoes tomorrow.
We opened presents and Mom got lots of stuff to keep her warm.  Longer socks, a nice sweater and a new comforter set.  She also got a mini frig for her room to keep her own supply of soda cold. The littles got footware and a toy.  I think they were pleased.  Audrie has the cutest boots.
We had a little snow so after Uncle Pat and Grammy left we went outside and played until we were cold.  They made snow angels in the street because there wasn't enough snow in the grass.  Merry Christmas.

Getting Ready

So tomorrow is Christmas again for us.  We had to hit the grocery store so we can make the Christmas dinner.  Who knew that a nice ham would be hard to find two weeks after the holiday.  All small, sliced or $35.  So we have a small ham which will probably be gone when the meal is gone.  But we have a ham.
It's cold cold cold.  I think it has been cold enough to do a number on the bug population.  Too bad the ants moved back in or it could have taken them down a notch also.

Deja Vu Kind of Day

It started with a trip to the mailbox.  The little man wanted to check the mail and we are back to checking it like once a week. Well inside is a package from Amazon.  Again my first thought is I don't have anything coming from Amazon.  Open it up and my friend had sent me a CD of his favorite band.  Halestorm  The band rocks pretty good.  And what a fantastic surprise.  Thanks.
Then this afternoon I realized there was a red puddle by the freezer. The last time I had a puddle by a freezer I had a mess.  This time also.  I think the door must have gotten left open and some stuff thawed including Popsicles. Rhodes rolls will expand and completely fill the bag they come in.  Looks like we only lost the Popsicles and the bread products.  I'm just happy there was no meat in this freezer.
Deja vus all over the place.

Consensus

The little man and I were having a conversation on the way to daycare this morning.  We were talking about all the things we want to do this year.  Some camping on the island, the fair, the family reunion, etc.  We talked about the zoo now that that construction is over (although I heard there is either more or going to be).
The little woman comes home from school and pops up with she wants to go to the zoo.  Out of nowhere.  So I guess we have a consensus on one activity this year.  We also agreed we would not go till later in the year when it isn't so cold.  :P

Regular Routine

The little woman went back to school today.  She brought home homework and then tried to tell me she didn't have any.  Good thing I checked her backpack.
The little man is out of the gym at daycare and back to pre-school.  He enjoyed those two weeks hanging with the big kids, but the big kids went back to school so no one is in the gym during the day.
I went back to work and had 66 web orders.  My biggest number so far.  Brenda and I worked all day on them and got them ready for UPS.  I love web orders.

It's a Grand Day

The quarantine was finally lifted so we were able to go visit with Mom today.  She had missed us.  Luckily for us she was in a good mood and understanding of the quarantine.  Tomorrow may be something different.
Then this afternoon we finally tried our hand at making french bread.  Now I have to say it was pretty tasty.  Nothing like what you buy in the store.  So therefore.......the little woman didn't really care for it and the little man hasn't voiced an opinion either way but he did eat some.   It was really easy. They really enjoyed the process and playing in the dough.

New Year

The littles actually stayed up and rang in the new year.  They watched TV in bed while I dozed.  And then the fireworks went off.  They thought that was the coolest thing.  They could watch them from bed and did and I bet they were asleep within two minutes of them ending.  They were still talking about it this morning.
We spent the whole day at home.  I worked on going through a couple more boxes.  I am now down to two.  Yay for me.  I have another big box of stuff for the goodwill and a big box of paper that went in the recycle bin. One of the boxes was old paperwork of my parents.  I have no idea how some of my wedding pictures got in it, but I liked seeing them for the memory.  Also in the box were receipts for things bought fifty years ago.  A different era that is for sure.  I loved looking at the sales records of the cars and properties they had owned.  I kept some of it.  Hope my brother finds it all as nostalgic as I do.
I found one of Dave's sweaters.  It didn't smell like him, but amazingly enough it still smelled like his dresser.  He had commented several times that that dresser made things smell funny.  He was right.
The little woman and I were going to bake some french bread but we didn't get to it.  Maybe tomorrow.  :)

Blog 2016

Wow.  Over 15,000 page views, averaging over 1,000 a month.  Still getting people reading from all over.  Last year's most read posts got blown out of the water by a couple of RIP posts.  I would say I completed my goal.  There was at least one new post for every day of the year.  May the trend continue as it is a great history of our lives.  I don't know how often I have went back to it to find out when something happened.
So with this I close out 2016 and onward to 2017.