Thursday, July 26, 2007

Sister....Friend......Forever

One of the highlights of my year is our annual Sisters Weekend. It started four years ago when my neighbor mentioned that she does this with her sisters each year and they have so much fun. I was just finishing up cancer treatment and was feeling quite reflective about spending time with those I love, so who better than my sis's. It has turned out to be a fabulous way to grow closer and stay connected as well as keep up with Mom and Dad, our husbands and kids.

The first year we met at the Coeur d'Alene Resort and shared a very fun and special weekend with a ton of laughs and a few tears, too. It was a chance to share our cancer stories and our feelings about a lot of things. We decided it HAD to become a tradition. We found it was easier for us to "meet in the middle" and moved the weekend to Missoula. We've stayed in a couple different hotels which were just fine -- it was always about WHO we were spending time with, not WHERE. We spend a lot of time talking and laughing, shopping, eating and drinking and just hanging out. Each year one of us hosts and is responsible for booking the rooms and making some plans about what to do as well as put together little hostess gifts for the other two. It's a blast!


Last year when Sandy hosted, she suggested a nice bed and breakfast place on the river, but couldn't get rooms. We decided to give it a try for this year. I was able to book a wonderful top floor room where we each had our own bed, a nice sitting area to relax in, a fun little balcony and a nice view of the river. We are hooked! Throw in free breakfast and we decided it was practically perfect! We met other folks who were staying there and enjoyed the homey atmosphere. We'll definitely be picking our date early this year so we can go back. I had hoped to post some pics of the place we stayed, but alas, my computer is still acting up and won't upload the photos. I will save them for a future update.


I feel so fortunate to have sisters that I love dearly and with whom I have NO conflict, competition or judgment. When we get back together each year, it's like we haven't been apart. I not only love Sandy and Bev, but I really, really LIKE them!


Well, here's to another Sisters Weekend - can't wait till the next time.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Technologically Challenged

So, I had a few events to blog about, but I can't share photos because my stupid computer crashed. Now if you know me, you know that I am not a lover of technology. Yes, it's a fine tool and it can be useful if it works. However, I have had TOO MANY bad experiences with computers and other electronic items to be able to say I enjoy the whole techno age.

So today I have some time in which I could have downloaded pics, etc., but I no longer have access to my pics until Keith has time to recover what was on the hard drive. I DID have photos of my new grandchild, Chloe, a fantastic yacht excursion, 4th of July at the Franklins...... Now I must wait. Waiting is not my favorite thing, but more importantly, YOU will have to wait. Since photos are the best part of blogging, I know it is rather disappointing.

With that said, here is a top 10 review of our most recent summer adventures:

10. Our pastor got elected bishop at the recent Free Methodist Annual Conference. That means I will be getting a new boss. More details to follow.

9. Umpiring season continues. Keith is assigner for all the local leagues. Can I just say that the phone never stops ringing and the topic of baseball is not on my happy list?

8. Eastern Washington University Admissions Office forgot to communicate with the Advisory and Registration Office and Financial Aid Office so now we are scrambling to get Alex registered for classes and making sure that we can pay for them. At least housing knows he is coming and he will have a place to live.....

7. We celebrated Keith's 54th birthday all weekend long. Dinner on Friday night with our friends, Gail and Roch. Boat excursion (see #5) with friends on Saturday. Lunch with Whit, Travis and Alex on Sunday. When did birthdays start being more than one day?

6. We celebrated our 29th anniversary sometime in there, too. Maybe it was the dinner out or the boat trip.....I'm sure we celebrated it somewhere in there.

5. We joined our friends, Doug and Jean Silver and Anita Swanson for a day on the Silvers' yacht on Lake Pend O'Rielle, Idaho. I do better on land, but Keith was in heaven!

4. Keith interviewed with two different companies for a new job. He isn't losing his at Cardinal, but wants to look at options. More details to follow.

3. We enjoyed a visit from Dan, Mishell, Cathryn and Josh Forbes. Mishell and I had a great time catching up and doing a little crafting.

2. We ended up spending July 4th at the Franklin home. Whit and Travis took pity on us since we were pathetically alone that day. We had a great BBQ and went downtown for fireworks. This reassured us that our kids will watch out for us when we are old and even more pathetic.

1. We have a new "grandchild". Well, not exactly the kind I was hoping for, but she is very cute! She's an 8 week old border collie, aussie mix. I must brag that she is very smart and mostly well mannered!

I will try to get some pics up after I return from my sisters' weekend in Missoula. Looking forward to good times with my sis's and a little escape from all the activity around here (maybe baseball season will be over when I get back - I can dream, can't I?)

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

The Day of the Marmot and Other Summer Adventures....


This is a very different summer for me. My kids are basically gone and I am having to find all sorts of things to occupy my time. The following tale will confirm that I probably have too much time on my hands....



So....this is a marmot. They are prolific in Spokane and while cute, they can be very destructive. So when Alex started his summer job on the maintenance crew of the Mead School District, his supervisor promised a free latte for every marmot the summer crew manages to catch up with and kill. These things apparently are digging under the schools and setting up housekeeping. Now this, of course, is all on the down low, because environmental types would erupt if they knew these poor little helpless animals were being inhumanely killed. The "official" policy says that they can be trapped and moved to a more appropriate home.

Now into his second week of work, Alex and his work partner encounter a rather bold and brazen marmot at Mead High School. Alex's partner was very enthused at the prospect of getting a free coffee, but when it came down to the dirty deed, he wouldn't do it. Now if you know Alex at all, you know that he puts up a great macho bravado, but is totally a softy at heart, especially when it comes to animals. In order to keep up his facade, he takes a nearby baseball bat (a weapon with which he is very accurate) and nails the marmot in the head. Fortunately the marmot was instantly dead because I'm not sure he could have hit it twice. And so, Alex gets high fives and a free coffee from the senior maintenance crew.

However, on his way home from work, Alex calls me from his cell phone to tell me how sick and awful he feels about this poor marmot and even did an immitation of how it sat up with cute little eyes and chirped at him before he hit it. He will avoid this part of his job in the future.

Lo and behold, next morning I get up and sit down with my coffee to read the morning Spokesman-Review. I open it to find a HUGE picture of a marmot holding a sign. Now this was just too good to pass up. I cut out the pic and wrote on the sign "Have you seen my mom?" and pasted it to the front door.

I actually cracked up Mt. Spokane Class of 2007's "Most Likely to make an appearance on Saturday Night Live." He admitted I got him good. Now this doesn't happen often - mostly he enjoys making fun of me, so this was immensely satisfying.

All of this just to prove my point that I have too much time on my hands these days. Keith and I will spend the 4th of July by ourselves at the homestead as Alex is headed to the lake with his other family and Whit and Travis and are hosting a little friend gathering of their own. Even our friends have booked out of town or are having family get togethers. While it's totally great that our kids are independent adults now, I still have to adjust. I should enjoy some quiet time, but it's too quiet. And it's really weird not to have a family gathering on a holiday. But I will survive I'm sure. It's a new season in my life and with every new season there comes getting used to it. Maybe I'll take up knitting......