The first week of March - Like a Lion!

No pictures this time - just an update of the past week!
Biggest news? On Monday, Brian left home to start his training at Fort Dix. Katharine and the boys are doing well. We are very proud of our son-in-law and daughter as they begin this new page in their lives! I will be visiting Dover during my spring break, which includes Easter. KC and the boys will come here shortly after that and Warren will go back with them to visit Dover during his spring break. We are racking up the air miles!
In other news of the week:
Tuesday was "Read Across America" to celebrate Dr. Suess's 102nd birthday, so all the classes at my school were full readers - some sitting at desks, some lying on the floor, some lounging in chairs - everyone making the most of this yearly event. I visited two classes and read them King Bidgood's in the Bathtub and Roland, the Minstrel Pig. It was also Loose Pages Book Club night. We ate Gumbo and Caramel Cake before discussing The Help. Everyone enjoyed the book and the delicious dinner!
On Wednesday, I snuck a present to my Secret Pal and got a gift from mine - a lucky pot-of-gold!
On Thursday, Warren and I went to band. The music is really challenging, but should make for a good concert.
On Friday, we caught up on multiple episodes of "The Tudors" and my left shoulder starting hurting. (Sympathy pains for Anne Boleyn?)
On Saturday, we met Mom and saw "Legally Blonde" at the 5th Avenue. My shoulder continued hurting.
On Sunday, I went to a baby shower. While there, two nurses told me, "Go to the doctor!" for my shoulder. And, oh yea, my honey-bunny Jeff Bridges FINALLY won his well-deserved Oscar. Not that he knows he's my honey-bunny, but he was always my husband whenever we played the game of Life. I loved our children: Golden Gate Bridges and Tacoma Narrows Bridges, etc. Ha!
Today, I have an doctor appointment! Hopefully, it's just a strain, pinch, or pull - fingers crossed!

My mother is a witch and I have PROOF!

Not everyone can say that. But, Mom has been tried and convicted! It's true - well, not really - she just completed playing the part of Rebecca Nurse in The Crucible at Paradise Theater. It was a great show, and Mom was really convincing in her part. I still think she should get an agent, move to Hollywood, and become a famous character actress!

It was intense and really well done. It is hard to believe that all of the witch trials really happened!

What a cute hat! She can probably get away with wearing it! ; - )

Earlier, we met Goody Nurse in Gig Harbor for dinner - a lovely evening!

 

Before we left on the ferry, I dressed in my snowy sweater and snowman earrings in honor of Katharine, Brian, McColley, and Brady who were in the midst of the blizzard hitting the east coast. It rather looks like spring at our house!

The rest of the weekend included checking the Bremerton condo, cleaning up the house, and working on applications = a truly gross experience! I took a picture of me working on one, but, it was more fit for a Halloween blog! We are currently watching Some Like It Hot because it reminds of us our vacation in San Diego - it's set at The Hotel del Coronado!

Lucky Maguires!

Cougs Brady, Katharine, Brian, & McColley got to pretend they attended the WSU vs. HI game - they didn't have to actually suffer through it! The intrepid river rafters met up again the next weekend at Quest Field to watch the Cougs fall to the Warriors 38-20. Those of us who stuck it out for the entire game saw the Cougs make some good plays, but when a team is behind by 32 points at half-time, it just isn't pretty. On the other hand, game day was GORGEOUS! We were glad to be there together. After the game, Ari & Tim took the ferry home. Britt, Mark, Laura, David, and Marianne met Warren & me for dinner at Bahama Breeze near Southcenter. It was yummy! Just about every other Coug in WA seemed to be there, too! We hope the Cougs improve during the season - the neverending dream of the entire Cougar nation!

A Birthday Weekend

The weekend birthday adventure started on Saturday, the 22nd, with a trip on the ferry from Edmonds to Kingston. After we checked into our Silverdale waterfront hotel, Arianna and Tim came over to meet us. We then traveled to Poulsbo where the Hopkins family had moored their sailboat for the evening. It was Susan's actual milestone birthday! So, now that you're this old, where are you going next, Susan? Disneyland!

The weather was glorious! Some sailing/work friends joined us - they were lots of fun to talk to. We had appetizers on the boat while Sue opened her presents - both funny & nice - with gusto!

Tim recently became a certified Nuclear Engineer! We are so happy for him. He's worked diligently to achieve this goal. What's in store for the Wells couple? Travel? They are loving the Bremerton area and seem to be off on an adventure at every opportunity.

Roberta helped host the boating soiree. The water was sparkling! Just like Berta!

Warren & Mom Jean observed the goings-on from the cabin. Warren opened a couple of his presents, too, since his birthday was the next day! Can you believe that Jean has had to figure out how to celebrate her childrens' birthday, one after another, for 60 years??? We all walked uptown to a cute restaurant for dinner. After dinner, Ari & Tim dropped us off at our hotel, after we made plans for the next morning.

Thank you Katharine, Brian, McColley, & Brady. Grandpa loves his iPod car FM player/charger. Warren got lots of cool presents, including Logo Making software from Ari & Tim; a golf hat; computer stuff, and raquetball wear from me. He got almost everything he had on his list. I love lists! Family called to wish him Happy Birthday, including the singing of songs. Thank you everyone!

Arianna & Tim joined us for a birthday brunch at our hotel's restaurant. Although not in the picture, the view was stupendous! We had the buffet = Good food galore, quick as a wink!

Warren & I then drove to Seattle to check into our sweet boutique hotel downtown. Sadly, for some reason, my camera deleted all the photos of our Basal Cellars Estate Winery suite and Warren's new Puma shoes. Grrrr. Anyway, our hotel was swell! Then, we headed out for the Underground Tour. Very interesting. Warren had never been. Here's the birthday boy waiting for the tour to start.

This picture is from the sidewalk below the street, as in the days of yore. It was a stunning day in Seattle. The tour lasted a half an hour longer than I'd planned, so we had to book it back uptown to make it to the hotel's wine tasting in the lobby. The Dobbes Family Estates from Dundee, OR were hosting.

We had a nice conversation with a lovely couple from Utah (via Wisconsin), while enjoying a Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, and Shiraz. Tasty wines. After a brief rest in our room, we went downstairs for dinner. We savored an excellent Italian dinner and, in honor of our room, ordered the Basal Cellars "Forget-Me-Not" wine. Yum. Back to our room, where we slipped on our leopard print terrycloth robes! We were very impressed with our hotel, which had been a Hotwir.e surprise.

On Monday, we had a delicious breakfast in our room and departed early so I could get to a meeting at my school. Later in the afternoon, Warren interviewed for a retire/rehire job and, I'm pleased to announce, got hired! He will be an assistant middle school principal, covering a personal leave. Isn't that great? It all came together quickly and he's really excited to get up really early every morning. Well, maybe not the getting up early part - but, very excited about the job.

Our house is getting painted - starting today. We really like the colors in small chip size - sure hope they look as good in large house size! Seems fitting to start the new school year with a freshly painted house.

Catching Up on a Very Busy Summer!!

Whoa! How'd it get to be August 4th already?? Happy 23rd Birthday, our beautiful Arianna!

Here's another update on our summer...get ready, get set, go:

I realize this should have been split in 2 - Family Event & Vacation - but, it's too late now!!!

KC & the baby boys were joined by Brian on June 22 in Pasco. Once they got back to Arlington, we had family pictures taken, got Brady baptized, and had a party celebrating both the baptism & Warren's retirement. Thank you to everyone who came for the fun. It was a great day!
After they left, we were tres desolate...the time had FLOWN by. We enjoyed McColley playing his guitar & his great imagination, as well as, Brady pulling himself up all over the furniture. We just don't see the boys often enough in real life! Everlasting kisses and hugs to them!

The next big event was our trip to Canada. Thankfully, with a huge infusion of moolah, my passport had been expedited to me & I was legal to cross the border. Warren, Mom (Marianne), and I set out in our rental car - a Buick Lucerne (which we decided should, but didn't, have a moonroof to gaze up at the mountains) - for Kamloops. It is a mere 4 hours from our house and yet we'd never been there before. What a great place to start! We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at The Brownstone & then Music in the Park down by the river...even though our cute, very retro, hotel was on a noisy highway.

After a fabulous Pannekoeken (Dutch Pancakes) breakfast, we headed for Lake Louise. WOW! We were really UP there in the Canadian Rockies. Our condo in Canmore was interesting. Mom had her own tiny dressing room with nothing in it??!! We also had 2 balconies! The only problem was that they were only about 36 inches wide & 6 feet long...the 3rd person in a conversation had to stick their head out the sliding door!

The next day, we picked up our GyPSy guide. What a wonderful tool for making touring easy! Our first stop was the Banff Lodge - a Scottish Baronial castle-like structure that's very famous. The service was so slow that for the first time in my memory, we did not leave a tip!


After that, we stopped in at The Cave & Basin, where Mom got to see some rare snails. This is where the Canadian National Park system began.

The next day we headed to Calgary, site of the 1998 Olympics. After getting lost, which included driving through the Calgary Stampede location 2 days after the end of the event, we found a great Irish pub where we ate lunch. Then, Warren & I toured the Olympic museum while Mom waited in the car. She didn't get to hold the actual torch that lit the Olympic flame in '98.

We rode the Lake Louise gondola, saw a grizzly bear from the air, and visited Moraine Lake. All awesome!

And then I insisted we go back to Lake Louise, where we ate dinner with a CRAZY hyperactive red squirrel, who literally ran across peoples' laps & up one guy's back, not to mention up Mom's purse & in Warren's plate! Sadly, we didn't get a picture of him! He was joined by a few Clark's Nutcrackers, one of whom almost snatched Mom's hair as he flew by on a reconnaissance mission.

On Thursday, we drove climbed up to see Peyto lake *over 7000 feet & walked on the Althebascan Glacier, while touring through amazing vistas.

When we got back to Banff, we decided to eat at a place called The Three Ravens, in the Banff Center. The Banff Center is a famous arts school. Well, we literally had to act as detectives to find the place & finally located it in the Student Dining Centre! It was worth the hunt, though.

On the 17th, we returned to Banff, ate at the Wild Bill Saloon, rode the Banff gondola, climbed up to the Cosmic Ray Station on top of Sulphur Mountain, & once again had to play detective to find our restaurant in Canmore. It was called Rustica & is part of the Silvertip Golf Course. Again, well worth the effort!

Quite a climb - gorgeous with a 360º view!

We left on Saturday and drove through the Kooteney National Park & back into the US to get to Colville to visit our friends, the Campbells. Sheena, their daughter, was there, too. They were amazing hosts! Their home is fabulous. The next morning, after a delicious Dutch pancake (ironically) breakfast, Bob took us on a tour of the new hospital addition. It is a marvelous facility. Vickie runs the gift shop, too.
We took the North Cascades & stopped in Winthrop for an ice cream cone.

The final nice surprise was that when we got home on Sunday evening, Arianna & Tim plus our dear friends John & Diane Simpson, were able to meet us for a fun BBQ dinner. All in all, it was an amazing vacation!

More to come in the next update...