Bits and Pieces

I am amazed at the number of people who had no problem leaving their wallets in their bags even if it was in bag check.  One girl came out to get it and only took her credit card back in.  What trusting souls young people are.
I got tutored on juggalos.  All I did was ask the guy about his necklace because the girl upstairs got one for Christmas.  Well let me tell you......whatever.  Its all theatrics.
Connor and I decided to take a walk after Audrie got picked up by Papa.  The rain had stopped.  We walked for almost an hour and came back.  Then we decided to go to the post office to mail Mommy's box.  Well the rain that didn't happen while we walked happened then.  Amazingly good luck the little man and I had.  It was a lovely walk.
Liz gave me my birthday and the day after off for sure.  Now to figure out what to do.  I think Seattle is out.  Maybe I should check the beach.

Winter Rush Changes

We have moved our bag check out of the conference room and set up shop in the cubby area.  I like it a lot better.  I am not a broken record telling people to go to the conference room and no one complained about using the bag check.  I got no bags dropped on my feet today.
Amazingly enough we had to 'stop the store' four times today.  We didn't have to do that during fall rush at all this year.  So strange.  So it felt a lot busier and I have no idea why.  I know Liz was in back doing lots of web orders.  Makes her appreciate me.  :p
So far I have not seen anyone that I know.  That in itself is bizarre.

Aunt Cris

Aunt Cris moved to Vancouver to be near her daughter.  A great move.  I went over and saw her place last week.  She lives at The Quarry.  She has a wonderful one bedroom apartment.  It has a kitchen which she says she doesn't use since they feed the residence in the dining room.  It is very spacious and just beautiful.
We went out for dinner.  Had Chinese food.  She really likes Chinese food.  Said she never got to eat it before my uncle went to a nursing home several years ago.  Had a lovely visit and caught up.
She seems so little now.  I think it is one of those amazing things that happen.  But she looks good and seems happy.  And Patches gave me a love bite.  She is also transitioning well.
Now that she is near by I'm sure I will see a little more of her.

Birthday Plans in the Making

One month from now is my 50th birthday.  I think it is an occasion worth celebrating.  But how?  So my first thought was a trip to see my sister.  Checked airfare and it was $276.  Yup.  $276.  I don't think I have ever seen airfare between PDX and MSP that cheap.  I could maybe swing that.  But then the logistics of babysitters.  Then I thought perhaps I would take the littles with.  Checked frequent flier miles and it was 100,000 of those.  Still doable because that still left enough miles for the Hawaii trip next year. Cool.  And then I realized I do not want to be driving in MN in the winter.  Bummer.  So no MN trip for my birthday, maybe later in the year just because.
Okay so that leaves a couple of days in Seattle.  Got an offer on a great hotel price close to the space needle which is where I would like to be.  Or I could go to the beach for a couple of days, taking the littles with.  Seattle works with my babysitters up north and I'm sure I could convince one or the other of them to take them. Ah decisions, decisions.  Or maybe I just stay home and celebrate with David.  :p Or something else altogether.
I think I better figure it out pretty quick though because a month passes by in a flash.

Number One Blessing

My number one blessing is that every day I am granted the opportunity to practice patience.  My mother thinks I already have the patience of a saint.  I don't.  Every day I practice.  Some days I have to apologize for running out of patience to the littles.  Kind of a humbling experience.  Some days I think they try to see just how far I can be pushed.  I am grateful for all that they bring me including the days they push my buttons to the extreme.  I can't imagine living without them.

Little Cups Eastside

Betty gave us a playcard for Little Cups and Grownups.  So we decided to go check it out.  There used to be one in BG that we played at once in awhile.  They had changed their hours and it was no longer an option for us.  I knew when they opened up the eastside location that it wouldn't be long before the local one closed.  And it did.
Here are my thoughts.  The new space is lovely, clean, crisp and new.  But it felt a little confining although I did like the area that had couches inside the play area to sit in.  The BG space was big and open.  I think the new space is smaller in square footage.  They did have customers though so I am sure it is good from a business standpoint.
The littles played for about an hour.  Then Audrie misbehaved.  And after several warnings we had to leave.  Maybe next time she will be better.  I don't think she believed me when I said we would leave and now she does.

2014 Looking Forward

New year. New dreams, hopes and growth. Mike is making a stab at something different some place else. The littles are going to grow and change exponentially again. And so am I. Life is short so I need to make the best of it. Happy new year. Love, light and laughter, words to live by.