Baby Steps

I know you're wondering how my week has gone with my new eating healthier plan. Well, lucky for you I have a few minutes to tap out some interesting, and riveting information about my week.

First off, baby steps.  I've done this a thousand times and I have tried over the years to manufacture some plan that works with me, my thought process, and my life. I'm not an all or nothing type of person, apparently, when it comes to eating healthy.  Oddly I am in other aspects of my life. 

So this week my goal was to plan healthy meals and eat as many of them as I could.  I knew I had two dinners out in which I'd be faced with making a smart choice.

I successfully ate my planned lunches and dinners this week. Feeling good about making smart, healthy choices about my dinners and lunches and a few snacks.  When you're prepared with good stuff to eat, you eat good stuff.

Then there was the eating out.  On Tuesday we had our dinner club and we went to a restaurant called the Islander on Mercer Island. It was my pick and I picked it primarily because they had a turkey dip sandwich. The photos looked so good I just knew I had to try it.

The bad: I did have it and had onion rings with it. Now granted I didn't eat the entire sandwich but that was really because it wasn't that great.

The good: after dinner it was decided to go have ice cream. I was stuffed and knew if I went I'd eat ice cream. So I bowed out and went for a walk/jog instead when I got home. One small victory.

The second eating out happened last night. I went to Seattle SIL's house to help her and Blueberry get prepared for the garage sale they're having today and tomorrow. I knew we'd be eating out after. Seattle SIL and I went to a local brewery around 8pm. Now, that's LATE for me to eat. I'm usually a 5pm or 5:30 kinda girl. So I was starving.

My normal MO is I'm starving and therefore must eat...a lot.  Instead, I asked Seattle SIL if she wanted to split one of the sandwiches.  Naturally she was all for it. So 1/2 a sandwich and fries. Again, a small victory for me.  I know the right decision was to order something healthier and maybe no eat the fries. BUT I also know I'm a fry kinda girl. 

At the end of the week I'm feeling good about most my decisions. Yes, there are improvements that could be made. And Yes, I plan on making them. But for me I really need to find a way to eat healthy and still enjoy the foods I love. I know, logically, I will never lose as much weight as I need to with this thought process. But it's not about losing weight to me. Yes that's a by product of healthy eating and working out, rather for me it's about being healthier.  Every right choice I make, makes me healthier.

I just know the diet gurus would have a field day with that theory.

Notes to Boys

Oh Lord, this book took me down some painful, but amusing memories.  If you want a good laugh, and you were once a teenage girl, I highly recommend this book.  It proves that no matter what age you are now, that at one time you were a teenage girl and boys were all you thought about.

Notes to Boys is by Pamela Ribon. She's a stand up comic - she says - and has authored a number of humorous books. I've got two more on my list to read by her and can't wait to get started on them.

This book is about Little Pam and her journals.  Pam grew up in a small town in Texas in the age BEFORE the Internet.  God how I remember those days..where passing notes was the only way to really, truly embarrass yourself (if I haven't shared the story of a kiss that happened with a boy I was in love with all because my best friend at the time shared a note I wrote to her with him! Oh I was embarrassed...but it was sooo worth it.)

Anyhow, this book is Bigger Pam sharing the notes from her younger self - Little Pam - that were wrote to boys when she was a teenage girl trying to figure out love through the eyes of a 15 year old.  Do you remember 15? The drama. The every day drama of whether a boy liked you or not. I cringed when I read some of her notes and giggled at the reality that I too probably passed notes like some of these to boys.

So the book is not a running list of her notes. She has a running commentary throughout that is what makes this book so funny.  You pick up on the older Pam's personality quite quickly and as she comments on Little Pam's notes you just find yourself laughing out loud.

This would be a great summer read and I'm sure you'll find yourself saying, "Oh god, I think I said that to a boy." Or "Oh God I wrote that to a boy."

And for the record...you couldn't pay me enough to be 15 again.

I accidentally bought this book actually. I was searching for a book club book and didn't have the name right.  Instead of Boys in the Boat (a completely different style and story than this book) I ended up with Notes to Boys...and I'm glad I did.

Let the Games Begin

I think it goes without saying that eating healthy and exercising is not a strong suit of mine. It's odd really since being a Capricorn I'm supposed to be very self-disciplined. Hah! I can be with certain things (like finishing all the ice cream) and yet something as necessary as keeping myself healthy, I cannot.

I've started feeling icky again and realized I've gained back a good amount of the weight I had lost the year dad died (2012).  From July of 2012 through to Feb 2013 I stayed the course. I didn't gain, I didn't lose, I just maintained. 

I was wogging then. Three times a week.

Then my wogging partner broke her foot.

I won't blame her, but it seems to me SHE's the reason I regained weight. (Did I also mention that Capricorns like to blame people?)

Seriously, she's not the reason. I am the reason. She stopped being my guiding force and so I stopped.

I commented to someone the other day that I wish I was the type of person who, when stressed, leaned toward working out. Instead, I lean toward food.

And so back to starting to feel icky.  I know it's time to get on the work out train again. I've been telling myself for a month or more and I keep finding excuses.  I'm the queen of that, and something I'm quite good at.

This weekend I made a plan. I really think planning is key for me to keep myself on track for eating healthy.  I made myself a menu plan, I did my grocery shopping, and I've prepped everything for the week.  Getting my meals together shouldn't be hard at all now. I have a plan.

And we all know how much I love to plan.

The plan for exercising is a bit more complicated. It requires me actually being motivated to go right after work. I get off work early enough to get to the gym, so there's no reason I shouldn't be going. 

In order to make it  more likely I'll go to the gym, I've packed my gym bag and have it ready to go to work with me.  I've found that coming home and thinking I'll go back out isn't likely to happen. I'm home. I'm tired. I'm not going back out.

So, who knows what's going to happen now. I'm not making any promises. I don't really care if I lose any weight. I do care that I start exercising and eating better.  My life is important to me and to ensure that I live longer these things have to happen.

Stay tuned. I know we've been down this road before. Trust me, I'm rolling my eyes as much as you are. It's the story of my life.

Beware! Personal Stuff Ahead!

You've been warned. This blog will be a bit personal. If when talking about boys, love and the sort you get squeamish. Or if you experience any dizziness, drowsiness, sweating, twitching, irritability or other side effects – you may not want to continue reading.

Now that I’ve got your attention, you’re gonna continue reading? Aren’t you? AREN’T YOU?

I’m currently reading a funny book called Notes to Boys by Pamela Ribon. The author has been a prolific writer her entire life. And she’s a slight hoarder.  She’s saved ALL her journals from the day she first started one.  Her most interesting journals were those from when she was a 15 year old girl. 

Now having been a 15 year old girl (30 years ago – gulp) this got my attention.

Her journals are really her angsty, teenage, hormonal self who has written to boys she’s liked. And her “experiences” with said boys.  The book is full of drama and crying and vowing to never EVER talk to XYZ boy again, only to flip the page and she’s in love with a new boy. If you’ve been a teenage girl, you know how this goes.

Anyhow, let’s just say I relate well to these stories.

This book is what started a thought provoking week in which I’ve considered stepping out into the dating world again.

Then Sunday happened.

I will preface the conversation I had with someone with that I tend to read into things a lot…and then I sometimes churn on them and make myself either sad or angry.  The person I was having a conversation with probably doesn’t even know that what she said hit me to the core and made me a bit sad, and a lot angry.

Let me also say that my BFF Blueberry and I have a sordid history with boys that I like who turn out to like her. It was how I lived through my college years. I would meet a new boy. I’d cultivate the friendship. He’d meet Blueberry. I’d become “just friends” while he would ask me about her and how to ask her out and if she was dating, etc.  I am sure that Blueberry never understood how painful this was for me. AND she wasn’t doing it on purpose. THAT’s what pissed me off more. She was just “that” kind of girl that guys flocked to. She was tall, gorgeous, perfect skin, smart, and she didn’t know she was any of those things.  I, was the complete opposite of her.

Fast forward to the  mid 90’s. We were at some friends house having dinner – and by WE I mean all of my really close group of friends I had in the mid 1990’s.  Suddenly one of the friends says to Blueberry, “I think we need to find you a boyfriend. And I have someone I’d like to set you up with.”  The conversation continued around how single she was all the while I’m sitting there even MORE single than she is. She’d had a boyfriend in the last decade. So feeling a bit bitter I piped up and said, “Hey! What about me.” To which my friend replied, “Oh Jenn. You don’t need any help.”

Um hi! Single still. Apparently I needed help.

Back to this past Sunday night. I was having dinner with a friend and somehow we started talking about dating. She said, “I’m a little surprised Blueberry is still single.”

Which I heard as, “I’m not at all surprised you’re single.”

So instead of brushing it under the table I asked, why she was surprised Blueberry was still single, but not surprised I was.

I think I caught her off guard a bit and she back pedaled and said that I seem to be so professional (not sure what this has to do with being single), and put together (ahhh false), and have my life together and organized (maybe but what does this have to do with finding Mr. Right or whoever he is?)

What I heard, “Because you’re fat and no one will love you.”

That, my friends, is what went through my mind. The full, naked truth of what, apparently, I think about myself.  I had to take a moment and excuse myself to the ladies room to ponder, briefly, why that ran through my mind.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that was the running commentary in my mind on a regular basis. And that is why, perhaps, I’m still single. 

Now, I know PLENTY, of overweight men and women who are happily married and in love. Logically, I realize weight is not the entire reason. I get that. Logically. But the  mind and the heart are often not in sync and now I have to deal with this emotion that bubbled to the surface.

Why couldn’t it be something easier like, daddy issues? Oh god! Do I have daddy issues too?

So at the end of the day, I was hurt.  Not by what she said, well kinda by what she said, but more by what I thought. Unless of course she meant that I was single because I was fat, which is just mean.

Always picking on the fat kid.

There you have it. My gut has been cut open and I’ve publicly discussed something that has plagued me for years. And I know that I’m a good person and that any guy would be lucky to have me - blah blah blah…which is clearly easy to say and/or type, but if I don’t actually feel that way, than saying it means nothing.  Me thinks I’d better start working on that self-esteem of mine.

Killing Kennedy: The end of Camelot

I happen to love the month's Seattle SIL picks the books for book club. She always picks biographical type books. Historical, non-fiction types. Those types of books are rarely on my radar. Once in a blue moon one will float to the top and I'll read it, but it's not my go to.

So when Seattle SIL picked Killing Kennedy by Bill O'Reilly (whom I'm no fan of) I wasn't sure. I knew I'd love the content about Kennedy, but wasn't sure what to expect of something written by Bill O'Reilly.  I wondered "how much could actually be true?"

The book goes through some easy years of Kennedy through his assassination in 1963.  The author - Bill - focuses on the details without boring the heck out of you. I found I learned quite a bit about Kennedy and the White House of the early 1960's.  For example, I had no idea Kennedy was a philanderer. And that Jackie knew about it and didn't really care much.  I also had no idea they had a third child, Patrick, who lived just a couple of days. 

This book gripped me in a way I hadn't expected. I enjoy reading about history mostly (and I enjoy the history channel quite a bit) and expected this book to be dry and boring. It was none of those things.  Bill O'Reilly (despite his controversial nature) did a stand up job recounting the days Kennedy learned all the intricate details of being the President of the United States.

Bill also wrote Killing Lincoln and Killing Jesus. It just so happens that when I was purchasing the book on my Nook, I accidentally purchased Killing Jesus.  Now I find myself interested in both Killing Jesus and Killing Lincoln. 

My recommendation is to read this book. It's 248 pages and is a quick read.  My "bullsh*t" meter only went off once or twice, but some quick fact checking on the Internet (which always has the truth-hahahah) showed that what Bill wrote was "truthful" to some.

Happy Father's Day

I miss you dad.

The journaling reads: This man came into my life in 1981 and took over the role of "dad". He had three sons and never had a daughter...until now. He taught me so many valuable lessons that it's hard to even list them off. I am who I am because of him. We lost dad two years ago and I miss him more everyday.

Teachers

This time of year I’m constantly amazed at all the FB posts of kids graduating, or mother/father’s announcing how excited they are that their child is moving on to the next year of school. And then this year something amazing happened, I had more and more of my teacher friends post that they will miss their students.  Those are great teachers to me. 

So it got me to thinking about the teachers in my life that made an impact. Chances are HIGH they have no idea the impact they’ve had. And while I know they most likely won’t ever read this post, I think it’s a sign of good karma to put out there how appreciative you are of someone. And heck, I’m friends with some of them on FB (I still call them Mr. XYZ and Mrs. XYZ on FB even though they’ve told me to use their first names. I just can’t do it.) and so I may send them a note telling them.

Let’s see…where to start. I’ll start with college and work my way back. 

 

Thinking….thinking….nope no faves in college.

 

Though Mr. Gonzalez was my instructor for The Seminar in Cervantes in which we read Don Quoixte in Baroque Spanish for the … entire…semester.  And while he may not have changed or impacted my life in a positive way, I do know that Blueberry and I have a favorite saying now because of him. I used to say, instead of “I have homework.” I’d say, “I’ve got a date with Cervantes.” Oh good times. 

 

Moving on. 

 

I think high school is where the vast majority of teachers really have an opportunity to impact a student.  I have two in high school that really stand out. 

 

First, Mr. Nelson.  He was my European History teacher in 11^th and 12^th grade. I purposely took another European History class because of him.  He was so enthusiastic about history that it was contagious.  It helped, I think, that I was at TASIS at the time. Being smack dab in the middle of Europe made the history more approachable and viewable. 

 

Mr. Nelson offered extra credit in class. He offered for us to go downtown with him on Saturday (a sacred day to any kid in boarding school cuz you could get off campus) and “show” us history.  When I showed up to meet him that first Saturday I was sure it was going to be him and me, the history nerd.  Instead I rounded the corner of the salon to see my entire class sitting there with him.  Granted our entire class was only 5 people. But I think that says something about a teacher when his students WANT to learn more.  And sure we were getting extra credit, but not that much. 

 

Years later I can remember random dates because on each of our tests the last page was a list of treaties or events, and again for extra credit, if you got the rate date for each you’d get one point. Which could make or break a grade really. So I would memorize dates like no buddies business. To this day, when I see one of those VW Westfalia camper vans I say in my head, or sometime out loud, “Treaty of Westfalia, 1648” Go ahead, go check Wikipedia. I’m telling you it was 1648. 

 

So, to Mr. Nelson who helped me LOVE European History to this day (I watch the History channel all the time), I say thank you.  

 

Mrs. Penn is the next instructor who greatly impacted my life. She taught Spanish at Quartz Hill High School.  I had her for first and second semester (Spanish 1 and 2).  The moment the first bell rang in class she was speaking Spanish to us. Our handouts were in Spanish, our homework assignments were in Spanish. She fully believed that you had to immerse yourself 100% in order to learn a language. She knew she only had us for 40 minutes a day, so she took full advantage of it. 

 

It wasn’t very long into class before I realized that Spanish came easily to me. I understood how a language worked, somehow.  But what impressed me most of all is how much ENGLISH grammar we learned in Spanish class. She taught us about grammar and so I discovered, in 10^th grade mind you, what a pronoun was. Or an adjective.  Amazing!!

 

Looking back I giggle to think I was almost 16 before I fully understood what a pronoun was and it was a SPANISH teacher who taught me it.  

 

Anyhow, I continued to take Spanish throughout my high school career because of Mrs. Penn. She made it so inviting to learn.  It was interesting, and exciting.  She taught me how to love another language.  Consequently my college degree was in Foreign Language and Literature.  Was she responsible for me being fluent in Spanish? Maybe not, but she was definitely a driving factor in it. She helped me discover something I could be passionate about, and could do well. So thank you Mrs. Penn.

 

Side note – I still correspond with Mrs. Penn every Christmas.  We exchange Christmas cards and every year it’s in Spanish. To put that into perspective, I was 16 when I was in her class.  I’m 45 now. Do the math. 

 

Teachers, in my opinion, are all too often underrated. It’s a horrible job to me. You have to deal with so many parents who think they’re kids are awesome when they may not be. On top of working for close to nothing, and dealing with all the social issues today's kids have to deal with.  Never in a hundred years would Mrs. Penn in 1984 had to worry about being shot at in school.

 

Teachers today are not only teaching, but are parents, counselors, etc.  They are raising societies kids in a way. There are some horrible teachers out there, I’ve had a few, but at the end of the day, I’m going to choose to believe there are more Mr. Nelson’s and more Mrs. Penn’s out there … and someday their students will look back and be super appreciative of those teachers.

 

Did you have a favorite teacher who impacted you?

Red, Red Wine....

It shouldn't be too surprising that this song is stuck in my noggin this morning considering last evening Mrs. Braspir, Seattle SIL and I went on yet another wine walk. 

This wine walk was in the Hollywood School winery district - still in Woodinville, just a different set of wines. I kinda felt like these wines were WAY more expensive and WAY out of my league when it comes to purchasing. I'm a relatively cheap wine connoisseur.

Anyhow, Woodinville is home to roughly 100 wineries. The number keeps changing depending on what article you read, who you talk to, and the month.  So I'm rounding to 100. My goal this year was to taste at ALL The wineries in Woodinville. If they stayed static, this wouldn't be a problem - other than me becoming a wino.  But as the months have gone on my list has ebbed and flowed with regards to available wineries.

New ones have been added, and some I've already tasted are no longer "on the list". The "list" is this handout that Woodinville provides that's essentially a map of wineries.  I suspect these missing wineries still exist, but have chosen to not be on the list for whatever reason.

Anyhow...that's a long winded way to tell you that I've adjusted my goal.  Instead of ALL the wineries, my goal is 75 wineries.  As of last night, I've tasted 30.  I've got a long way to go by the end of the year. I'm going to have to go tasting on my own it seems.

This wine walk was a fun adventure. The sun was out and it was a beautiful evening in Seattle.  We started - after I told Seattle SIL the wrong direction to go - with Trust Cellars. They had several to choose from and I opted for their Cabernet Sauvignon and their Cab Franc.  All were delicious and all were out of my price range.  And nothing, in my opinion, to write home about.

Moving on...

Our next winery was Dusted Valley - characters abound here.  The pourer was a sassy blond woman who was all to happy to tell us all about their wines, their winery and stories behind some of their names.  I tried their Grenache and their Mourvedre. Delicious wines. If I had an occasion to bring a NICE bottle of wine, I'd go here to get it. They had an interesting wine too called Squirrel Tooth Alice and they had a fantastic story about how they got the name. They had a photo of this old timer woman who lived in the late 1800's / early 1900's who died at 98 in the 1950's. Anyhow, I'll let their site fill in the blanks, "The namesake of this old Dodge City, KS lady of the night lives on famously. The sex appeal of this wine jumps out of the glass with loads of seductive allure. You're gonna love 'er. If not, you'll have to have to answer to Alice's pet ground squirrel. No kidding. She had a pet ground squirrel...How else did you think she got her name???"  Crazy...and while I didn't taste it Seattle SIL did and loved it.

Our  next stop was William Church.  I love their logo and sorta love their wines. I had their 2 Spires and their Bishop's Blend. Both were decent, alright, they were good. But again, not in this girls price range. I had tasted at William Church before so I kinda knew what to expect here.

Our next stop was back to where we started - the ticket pick up - at Otis Kenyon. Now it could be that this was winery #4 and our taste buds were almost drunk OR it could be they just didn't have wine that was complimentary to my pallet. Either way, I wasn't a fan.

The next winery is out of Oregon and was offering a free tasting ... so we HAD to do it. Torii Mor was a fun, lively little tasting room. The young gal who helped us was BURNT to a crisp by a sunburn that just made me ache.  I opted to taste their Port blend and...OH....MY....God...it was delicious. Seattle SIL and Mrs. Braspir followed suit and it wasn't long before we were pulling out our wallets. We bought ONE bottle between us (it was expensive...very expensive - $45) and we figured we'd split it and have it as a special wine for our annual trip we do. I can't wait to taste that Port blend again.  We didn't taste any of their other wines. We were too in love with the Port.

Our last stop was Zerba (not Zebra).  The guy in there seemed less than enthused to be helping us and frankly I didn't like their Cab Franc blend I tasted at all. I may not know that much about wine, and what makes a good wine, but I would like the wineries to at least make an attempt to tell me what they're tasting and why it's a good wine. 

After this winery it was determined that we all had had a bit too much and that we should go sop up the wine in our systems with some Mexican food.  So we went and sat for a good hour and chit chatted in the sun (I sat in view of a Mustang Cobra convertible and drooled the entire time...then a Shelby convertible came and parked next to it...I was in heaven). 

I love these two women as they are ALWAYS game to go and do something like this. We laugh a lot, and talk about nothing overly important or sometimes deep, important stuff - but we always have a good time.

Oh I almost forgot, we weren't drinking on an empty stomach. When we do the warehouse walks they have a food truck there so we can get quick, good food. While there are restaurants in the Hollywood School House area, we didn't want to waste an hour of the wine walk eating, so I brought snacks.

It might become a tradition.  You may also notice our wine glasses are essentially travel coffee mugs but like a wine glass (they even have lids that go with them) we got these when we went on the Mt. Rainier Railroad wine tasting thingy last year. They were all the rage. Every winery we entered someone said how much they loved our glasses. One gal even took a photo.  Maybe I should buy a bunch of them and set up shop out there and sell them! I'd be RICH!!!

Scrapbooking and the like

I don't talk much in this blog about my scrapbooking hobby.  And I thought I would share with you some insights I've had recently as they relate to scrapbooking.

First you should know I've been scrapbooking since 1998. My Aunt J - bless her - visited and she brought with her a scrapbook. I had heard of scrapbooks, but never had seen one like this. She explained what it was, etc...and I was hooked. It would go nicely with my other expensive hobby of photography.

Fast forward 16 years (and probably thousands of dollars) and my scrapbooking has changed significantly.  When I first started, scrapbooking was in its infancy. It was new and the products available were, well, limited.  Over the years, the products have improved, and scrapbooking became a BIG deal. (It was started by the Mormons BTW and most of the first businesses were owned by the Mormons. Not sure why that matters - but it seemed interesting to me). Anyhow, the trends of scrapbooking, like anything, have changed over the years as well. Looking through my scrapbooks you can see how trends developed.

The most recent trend is to use one or two photos per page and then add so many embellishments that an average page can cost up to $10. Not the style for this girl.

However...I had a revelation recently. 

I'm currently taking a couple of classes on scrapbooking. One of the classes is called the Arts and Science of Scrapbooking. The idea of the class is to determine what side of the brain you function with, and then do the challenges for the other side of the brain.

There are two instructure's: one who's left brained and one who's right brained. They give each other challenges and the objective of the course is for you - or me rather - to do the challenge that is opposite the side of the brain I use most. I'm predominately left brained, so I'm supposed to do the right brain challenges. Seems easy enough...turns out not so much.

Somehow in the course of these challenges it was mentioned that you don't have to scrap ALL your photos.

Say what?

That's right, it was said out loud....You....Don't.... Have... To... Scrap.... All.... Your.... Photos....

Wait...my head is still spinning!

I've ALWAYS scrapped all my photos. And this idea of NOT scrapping them hit me upside the head and suddenly I felt relief that I didn't have to scrap them all.  The idea is you just pick the "best" ones and focus on them was just so refreshing.

I think I knew this in the back of my head, but I never gave myself permission to just scrap the good photos. Now I've given myself permission, a whole new world has opened up for me. I should also add that a realization that NO ONE ever looks at my scrapbooks kinda helped. I mean by the time you get say a European vacation scrapbooked everyone has already seen the photos, so why bother.

Anywhoooo....

This is the place where the "magic" happens.  I've worked hard to get this space organized in a way that has everything "relatively" within arms reach and my work space open for creativity.  I have found that by getting myself a bigger desk to work with, I just spread out more and tend to have less space. Go figure.

So one of the right brain challenges for this class was to look through my stash of paper until a sheet of paper reminds you of something.  I found this paper and while I didn't pin point it at the time, it made me think of photos of myself with my camera. I rarely scrapbook photos of myself, so figured why not step out and tell the story as to WHY I take photos at all.

 

Another challenge was to do a collage. This challenge forced me to learn how to make collages in PSE. Which I couldn't really figure out so I went to another option in Picasa.

 

Here's a good example of picking only a couple of photos. I have a TON of photos of the fur kids and have wanted to scrap some of my favorites.  Giving myself permission to only scrap the best really helped me focus on the best ones and find a balance for it.

Totally a left brained layout. I admit it. I had been trying to figure out what to do with all the gelato photos from the trip. This layout was presented in class and it was perfect for those photos. This layout taught me how to resize photos in PSE - I know you'd think I would have already figured that out. AND I learned how to create specific frames for my Epson PictureMate so it prints 2X2 photos.

And lastly, this class along with another class on sketches I'm taking, has allowed me to let go of so many photos and really focus on the story behind them. I've not done a good job of journaling because well I figured who cared. No child of mine will be looking at these scrapbooks 50 years from now and wanting to know my life story.

But, what I did find was telling my own story was cathartic.  Especially when it came to BigBro and the DadUnit. I miss them both so much and scrapping about them really helped me heal a little.

I gave dad a coffee cup once that said, "Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad" and it is soo true.

 

Wasn't expecting to see BigBro's headstone next in line after dad's.

This celebration page is my example of picking the best photos for me. 300 people showed up to his celebration of life. I took 100 or so photos.  But the real story, for me, were the people who showed up that I cared about. And that's the story I told.

Celebrating BigBro.

I realize this blog isn't for everyone, and some of you probably don't care at all. AND in rereading it, it's really all over the place.  What I'm trying to say, I think, is that after 16 years of scrapbooking (47 scrapbooks in total), I'm still learning.  I'm learning how to use my stash, break out of my norm, and be open to some change - for once.  And in the process of all this learning, I've healed a little.

Hello June

I just flipped the calendar at work and took a moment to realize we're...in...June!!! What the hell happened to the first half of this year? I swear to you when I went to bed last night it was January.

So I know you're dying to know what I did over the weekend, so I'm going to put your mind at rest. I'm nice that way.

Friday  night I totally pissed off Blueberry by cancelling coming to her house for a jewelry party at the last minute.  The MomUnit was in town and she had scheduled dinner with some family friends I hadn't seen in a very long time.  I should have definitely told Blueberry sooner than an hour before I had to be there.  To top it off, she somehow thought the MomUnit and friend ML was going to come up with me so she had a buttload of food.  She was pissed, and rightfully so. She got over it though since I saw her yesterday and apologized, groveled, etc.  I need to figure out a way to make it up to her.

Dinner with the friends though was fantastic. We met at Anthony's in Kirkland and had a window table with a spectacular view of Lake Washington.  Everyone and their brother was on the Kirkland waterfront Friday night though. Which shouldn't surprise me.  And the family friends, both, seem to be doing fine. It was a great evening of getting caught up, eating good food, and just generally enjoying the night.

Saturday was a lazyish day for me. After we had lunch at RR - they screwed up my burger again.  I mean how hard is it when you ask for no lettuce and tomato on your burger to NOT put lettuce and tomato on it? Anyhow, after lunch we stopped at a couple of stores then headed home. I wanted to spend some time in the scrapbook room since I'm taking these two scrapbooking classes right now and was behind.  The MomUnit and ML went to visit my aunt and take the mutts to the dog park.

Later Saturday night I met a friend at Lake Forest Park Grill. We ate...we got caught up...we laughed...we drank...we ate some more.  It was good to see J again. She and I don't get a chance to see each more than a couple of times a year. So when we do get together, we have a LOT to catch up on.

Sunday was an interesting day. I was exhausted last night and all I did was eat, drive, and pee.  We met Seattle SIL, The Niece, Bob (the niece's wife), Blueberry and a few other 3Day friends at Jalisco's Mexican restaurant after the Race for the  Cure. I didn't participate in it this year. For some reason I just couldn't get interested and just didn't want to.  So we ate Mexican food and got full.  We headed home and rested for about 30 seconds before we were off again to go out to the Braspir's for dinner.  Delicious lasagna and good friends...what's not to love.  But I swear to you, I could barely keep my eyes open. Eating is apparently very tiring.

Then after being so tired, I slept like crap last night. Looking forward to a nap of some sort this afternoon.

The MomUnit and ML are headed out today. The cats will get their house back. Lucy hasn't been very happy about the Mutts being there. She stalks them and then looks like she's going to play nice, only to attack them. The little demon!