Happily Ever Gunter

Forward Progress

2010-06-27T14:01:00.000-07:00

Remembering when it was a big deal that my baby could do this.

Then he moved on to this:

and this:

And now my baby is here and quite pleased with himself.

Exhibit A

2010-04-18T16:49:00.000-07:00

This is what I mean when I say "mobile". Max started out facing the other direction in the middle of the living room. Through several detours he ended up under the coffee table and was only halted by getting stuck up against the wall.

5 Months of Maxwell

2010-04-18T15:20:00.000-07:00

5 Months.

Maxwell.

What's it like you ask?

Lots of drool. Lots of smiles. Hysterical giggles (especially when he's tired.) So interested in toys, and food and basically anything in anyone's hands. Mobile. . . this kid can turn circles and back up like nobody's business (although still hasn't actually mastered the art of rolling over-can do it but it usually comes as a surprise). Can't read books as a "quiet activity" because they are too exciting. Everything goes in the mouth (including sometimes Mommy's chin if I'm holding him on my lap and not paying attention). Now have two boys in the house with exceptional pout faces. Mostly happy but have definitely learned to whine. Lots of love-given and received.

Bath Time!

2010-04-18T15:03:00.000-07:00

At 5 months bath time becomes more about gumming the bathtub and playing with toys than it does about actually getting clean. If I manage to get Max's hair washed and rinsed I consider it a successful bath and leave it at that. But, boy, do we have fun!

Forever and No Time at All

2010-01-09T11:45:00.000-08:00

I have been a mother for two months.

It's strange that two months is such an insignificant amount of time in the grand scheme of life. It seems like so much has happened. . . surely Maxwell has been with us for much longer than that! I guess that is what happens when every single day is a learning experience and Maxwell changes on at least a weekly basis.

While I still really feel like "myself" I have had to laugh at the little ways that being a parent changes you. You notice different things and talk about different things. I felt that way when I was pregnant too-there are all these things going on and this whole other world that I was completely oblivious to as a non-pregnant, non-parent person.

Example: When Jamie and I first started taking Max out and about we quickly discovered that carrying him in the car seat was a royal pain but neither one of us was very experienced using our slings yet. Jamie suggested just carrying Max into the store. Carry him? In our arms? Are you allowed do that? Don't you need some kind of container to put him in? I could have sworn that I had never seen someone carrying their kid around in their arms while shopping in a store. Ha Ha Ha. People do it all the time, I just had never even registered it before.

Being a parent is good for me, I think.

Round

2010-01-09T11:16:00.000-08:00

Yes, I am very round.

And when I smile my cheeks get even rounder!

(Is "rounder" even a word? If not, Maxwell has invented it and defined it)

Meeting Zoe

2010-01-09T11:03:00.000-08:00

Little Miss Zoe Ann

It's so fun to meet new babies. . .and see how loving and competent my friends are as mothers! Congrats Kate and Derrick!
(Nothing like a sweet little 7 lb baby to make my guy feel like a chunk)

Talking Machine

2009-12-20T21:42:00.000-08:00

Maxwell is now 7 weeks old. The last week or so he has become really social-"talking" and laughing and loving to interact with people. It's so much fun for us and it's nice to have some confirmation that our kid actually might like us.

Jonathan reading Max his first book (does it count as reading when it's a pop-up book with no words?)

Max loves playing with his Papa.

Maxwell Smiles

2009-12-18T22:30:00.000-08:00

4 weeks

2009-12-17T22:55:00.000-08:00

Maxwell at 4 weeks

Along with the one month milestone for Max came several of my milestones-namely wearing real clothes again, leaving the house occasionally and figuring out how to use the sling (note in this photo I am actually cooking!).

Quiet Baby

2009-11-29T15:13:00.000-08:00

Maxwell all bundled up for his first Sunday morning meeting. He was a peach and slept in his car seat the whole time. It actually might have been better if he had been awake since he makes so much noise when he sleeps! He grunted and moaned and snorted and snored his way through the hour.

It's amazing how you feel like you have a pretty quiet baby until you go somewhere where you actually have to be quiet and then every noise sounds so loud! I am sure someday we will look back on this and laugh-as a bigger Max screams and throws temper tantrums during meeting!

So Much To Be Thankful For!

2009-11-29T14:21:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

Holidays are a time when we celebrate ritual and routine. . .when "same-ness" is not only Ok-it's expected. It seems every family has their "thing" or "things" that they always do and without them the holidays just aren't the holidays. Whatever those "things" are-eggnog mixed with 7-up, cranking the Christmas music starting at 8 am Thanksgiving morning, making three times as much food is as needed, fistfights with the relatives-can be as varied and crazy as our families are. Years can be marked by deviations from the tradition-The Year Mom Bought a Different Brand of Pumpkin For Her Pies, The Year We Forgot Great-Aunt Ethel in the Car During Dinner. I love tradition and I love holidays with our families! Wishing you joy with yours!

Grandma Turner meets Maxwell.

Tyson gives a lesson in the proper way to carve a turkey. Did anyone else know that there is a part of the turkey called the "oyster"?
A little weird if you ask me-and disappointing. If you are going to use the term oyster then you had better produce some seafood!

Naptime for little boys and big boys too.

My, what a nice lap you have!

2009-11-29T13:00:00.000-08:00

Two of our "kids" needing some attention.

Henry & Max

2009-11-22T18:12:00.000-08:00

(Thanks to Darren for the amazing photos!)

Hi Nanna!

2009-11-22T18:02:00.000-08:00

Yes, we miss you too!

Reversing My Opinion

2009-11-21T09:54:00.000-08:00

I have been skeptical of these Moby wraps from the start.

Too much fabric.
Too much fuss to put on.
Too much hassle just to carry your baby.

Well, now I actually have one of each (a baby and a Moby wrap) and last night we gave it a try. I must say it's amazingly comfortable. Hardly felt the weight of Mr Max and hands were free! It also was really easy to put him into (unlike my other sling which took two people multiple attempts and ended with Jamie and me laughing hysterically and Maxwell crying his head off) I do need a bit more practice. . .somehow the photos in the instruction manual look a little different. . . a little more head support. =) I still think it's a bit of a hassle and a little weird to just wear around without the baby but it seems like a good solution until I become more proficient with a simpler sling.

Can it really be?

2009-11-18T20:09:00.000-08:00

My baby is 16 days old already.

Soon life will be counted in years not days but right now it's hard to believe that a single day could pass without marking it.
One more day with Maxwell.

Papoose

2009-11-18T19:54:00.000-08:00

My dear sweet little papoose!

Highlights fom the First Two Weeks

2009-11-18T19:43:00.000-08:00

Mama having fun with baby clothes.

Napping with Nanna

Trying out the swing-not terribly impressed so far. Oh wait-I guess it's a good thing he's sleeping in it!

First bath.

Maxwell Arrives

2009-11-17T14:05:00.000-08:00

Maxwell James-our big boy arrives.
I guess all those people telling me I looked HUGE during pregnancy were onto something after all!

Meeting Papa. The surgical mask can't hide that grin!

Fully Cooked

2009-11-01T15:01:00.000-08:00

Week 40!
In the words of my OB- baby is "fully cooked" and just waiting to come out. We can't wait to meet him!

To think, I use to worry that people wouldn't know that I was pregnant! No doubt about that belly. =)

Good Friends

2009-11-01T12:31:00.000-08:00

Jaela

Elle

Jocefin

We had a lovely visit from our friends Ben and Clara and their beautiful girls this summer. Love you guys and look forward to many more visits!

Catching up

2009-11-01T12:23:00.000-08:00

Ths kitties noticed the change in the weather this fall. We haven't seen them cuddle like this since they were little.

Jamie proves that baked potatoes WILL explode if you don't poke holes in them first (thanks for the bad information, Food Network!)

The view that greeted me coming home from work the other night. . . Jamie giving lessons to Jace and Monty in the fine art of making Shepherd's Pie. (Jace looks great in pink, doesn't he?!)

Treats from Ma and Pa's garden this summer (the big tomatoes are from Ben and Clara's garden)

So I've been a little behind in my blogging. . . .

2009-11-01T12:14:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Tyson! Yah. . .that was back in September but it's Ok to prolong the celebration! =)

To New Beginings

2009-07-21T20:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Wedding Day Natalie and Eliseo!!!

Watermelon Season

2009-07-16T19:08:00.000-07:00

I was told today by a co-worker that I look like a ripe watermelon. It's not every day that you receive a complement of that caliber so I thought I better document it. =) I swear the shirt looked nothing like a melon 2 months ago when I bought it!

Ahhh Summer

2009-06-30T20:46:00.000-07:00

Lately Jamie has been doing a lot of our cooking which is great for Jace and me! Gives me more time to focus on things like making fun dessert treats. And Jace more time for. . . eating. =)

It's Only About 4 Laps Around Greenlake Afterall

2009-06-28T19:01:00.000-07:00

The Seattle Rock and Roll Half Marathon.

It sounded like a great idea in February. In March I nauseous and wanting to sleep about 16 hours a day and just focusing on making it the 6 blocks to the bus stop-13.1 wasn't even on my radar. By April I was starting to send bad thoughts Glenda's way for even suggesting this race in the first place and imagining how that $90 could have been much better spent. But by May we were training hard and feeling good. And June 27th it felt AWESOME to finish-and to finish a good 40 minutes faster than we anticipated. Now June 28th. . . that's another story. =)

I am so proud of all of us for making a goal and actually sticking to it. And unlike our previous Half Marathon, we really trained and prepared well. It was Glenda's first race ever (and she ran the whole way! We didn't get a photo with her because she was so fast!), Becca beat her time from her last Half, and Kelly and I managed to do it at 26 and 22 weeks pregnant. Wahoo!

The celebratory dinner with Jamie. You're suppose to carbo load for the whole week after the race too, right?

I didn't post a photo of my date but his dinner was too yummy looking to pass up. =)

A New Post for Pa

2009-06-27T20:33:00.000-07:00

Big

Bigger

Biggest

I have been remiss in my blogging. Please pardon. I have been a little preoccupied the past 5 months!

Here are the results of my week 21 photo shoot. I think it's safe to say I'm "showing" =)

I heart hearts and heart day!

2009-02-14T17:48:00.000-08:00

My Valentine's Day stands out for these reasons:

My Valentine took me to the library.
I wore a skirt over jeans out in public for the first time ever.
My Valentine and I rode bikes together for the first time since fall!
I got heart cookies in the mail.
I ate ice cream from Molly Moon's while standing on the sidewalk in the sunshine (1/2 scoop maple bacon and 1/2 scoop chili chocolate.)
My Valentine also took me to water aerobics.
My Valentine is the same person as my husband.
I love my Valentine more this year than ever before!!!

To Bake a Cake

2009-02-08T21:39:00.000-08:00

This weekend I made a cake. A real cake, as in, not from a box. Rays of light are beaming and choirs are playing and I have found my new calling in life. How did I not know that baking cakes was this much fun? Not to mention a whole new art form-or at least they will be when I figure out how make them level and get all the frosting to do what it is suppose to! As Jamie so helpfully pointed out, I really needed the chocolate shavings and letters on top to disguise how lop-sided and funny looking it turned out. =)

This is what I was planning that the cake would look like:

I would like to thank my fabulous Better Homes and Gardens Cake Calendar for providing the inspiration-I really could not have done this without you. Your daily presence and dedication to. . .well-cake, is what moved me to take this to the next level. And, of course, I owe it all to Rick for retiring and providing the occasion!

Then and Now

2009-01-25T12:07:00.000-08:00

Can you believe how much my big boy has grown? Funny how he still thinks that he fits up there. He'll jump up and try to get comfy and then practically fall off so he'll jump down again.
Silly Charlie Cat!

Oh no!

2009-01-24T14:04:00.000-08:00

Jamie has no arms!

Responsible Pet Owners-Take note!

2009-01-17T21:39:00.000-08:00

When we purchased our cats we had to fill out a pretty intense application because it was one of those animal rescue organizations. It had questions on it like:

"How many hours of the day will your cat be left alone?"

"Do you swear on your life never to de-claw it and to allow it outside only under supervision?"

"Are you financially able to pay the astronomical vet bills on an annual basis (please include recent bank statement)?"

"Do you have 2 inches of bookshelf space in which the cat may wedge itself, become stuck, and quite possibly need rescuing?"

Thank goodness we passed!!

In with the new!

2008-12-31T18:32:00.000-08:00

Happy

New

Year!!

A New Family Tradition

2008-12-26T12:30:00.000-08:00

This unexpected white Christmas has been a novelty to those of us on the west coast and is inspiring some new family traditions. For my family this means: SNOW BOCCE! Played in the snow and accompanied by a gentle mist of rain to get us thoroughly wet and cold. A true Northwest sport!

Dad referees from under the shelter of the eaves. A word to the wise though- never trust a ref with the same last name as your opponents!

As you can see, the snow required a little modification to the usual throwing technique.

2 points red.

Never too old. . .

2008-12-25T21:58:00.000-08:00

Violet, Poppy and Rose arriving at the Danilson's for Christmas Day.

My favorite present for Christmas this year actually came with Khiana's name on it. Who could resist buying a set of wooden dolls with magnetic clothes and accessories (a whole big box of them) for a 2 1/2 year old girl? Apparently not Grandma AND Auntie Shireen. When Khiana got duplicate sets for Christmas I promptly snagged the second set under the guise of "Auntie Katie needs some kid toys at HER house for when the girls come to visit." And it WORKED (despite shouts from Grandma Linda that I need to produce some grand babies before I qualify to get kid toys).

Oh my, how dress up dolls have changed since I was a kid!!

No fiddly paper tabs to hold the paper clothes on cardboard dolls, no ripping the clothes by accident when trying to "punch" them out from the sheet they come on. Accessories like you wouldn't believe (cowboy boots, soccer outfits, ballet shoes, crowns) and clothes that I would wear (cute dresses with leggings, green sneakers, rainbow t-shirts). I have not stopped playing with "my dolls" all afternoon (joined, might I add, by my mother and my 94 year old grandmother).

Don't worry Khiana-your dolls will be well taken care of until you come to play with them. You just might have to compete with your auntie for time with them!

Violet, Rose and Poppy dressed in their party dresses for Christmas Dinner.

All cozy-ed up and ready for bed.

Keep posted- I have a feeling these three chickies may appear on the blog again.

HO HO HO

2008-12-23T06:50:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays Everyone!!!!

snow and more snow

2008-12-19T15:44:00.000-08:00

Actually-we didn't get any more snow but I have more snow pictures from yesterday so I am posting again. For the complete album check out our online album (including photos of the dead mousies that Charlie keeps killing and bringing into the house-not for the faint of heart!).

This is what the kitties have been doing pretty much 24-7 ever since it got cold outside.

Jace and Jamie and I spend our "snow day"afternoon walking down the the cinema to see a matinee of Four Christmases. Cute, funny Christmas movie. . .and the scene of my second eggnog latte of the day!

Poppy decides to get a little adventurous after all.

i love snow!

2008-12-18T15:10:00.000-08:00

Yay! Finally our little corner of the world gets some snow! Kind of a bummer to be the only area in practically the whole state that didn't get snow yesterday. . and now that we do have snow our neighborhood seems to be getting the least snow compared to other places in the city. You can try and sell me that line about less snow being safer blah blah blah but I'm not buying it!
I LOVE SNOW!

It was so much fun to walk to the bus in the snow today. . .and to watch it come down in big gloppy flakes on the bushes out my window at work. . . with my feet up while drinking my eggnog latte. Nothing else to do. None of my patients came. Are you kidding?? This is Seattle. 2 inches will shut down the city! =) So I got paid for 8 hours today (only worked 5 but they paid us a whole day) to do some of my favorite things (in case you have forgotten-reference the last post.) (or I can just spell it out for you-SNOW, eggnog lattes, being at work and not working, and now that I'm home early. . . on to making cookies while listening to Christmas music!)
Christmas just came early for me!

Pretty impressive pileup there on the front porch!

Our little tiny icicles are so cute!

Poppy has the right idea. . .watch it all from indoors. The cats are not exactly thrilled about the snow. They growl at us when we throw them out in the snow bank and dash right back inside.
No fun at all!

Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String. . .

2008-12-14T21:02:00.000-08:00

Kelly and Glenda came over for Eggnog French Toast Breakfast and stayed for a good three hours of Girl Talk.

I seriously love the holidays.

Seriously.

Eggnog French Toast. Eggnog Lattes. Eggnog sampling bar at the Central Market (by the way, Edaleen makes the best Eggnog-and bonus for being kind of local). Eggnog ice cream. Pretty much anything to do with Eggnog. White lights around my window. Christmas music-a non-stop rotation of my favorite CDs. Holiday Tea Parties. Planning my "scheme" for wrapping paper. A leisurely day of Christmas shopping with my husband (with maybe a few things for me thrown in!) SNOW. And the POSSIBILITY of snow. Making and frosting Christmas cookies. The Martha Stewart Holiday Cookie magazine. Time off of work. Time AT work spent on very non-work things (decorating trees, making clove oranges, organizing office "Secret Santa"). Family-all together all at once. And of course the anticipation associated with every one of these things.

These are a few of my favorite things.

This is a very random photo of Poppy but I had to include it. This is her new way of sitting and it cracks me up every time I walk down the hall and see her.

No wonder I am confused.

2008-12-07T15:52:00.000-08:00

I came home the other day to find Jamie watching TV-with no less than 6 remotes close at hand. Apparently, with our TV, VCR, Xbox, stereo and who knows what all else, all being hooked together? routed through each other?? we now need multiple remotes to watch anything. And they all do different things-one to turn on the TV another to turn on VCR and completely separate one to change the volume etc, etc. No wonder I can never figure anything out! If I had any doubts about being married to a Gadget Man, they have all been dispelled!

Victoria

2008-12-07T15:34:00.000-08:00

Old news. . .but I'm just getting around to posting photos. Tamila was in Victoria this fall and Kelly and I took the Clipper up to visit for a night. How can you describe time spent pouring out hearts with good friends? It is amazing. It is uplifting. It is encouraging. It is vital. I'm pretty sure that going out to coffee three times in one day (in between bouts of shopping) is also vital!

Projectile Vomiting and a Sunday Afternoon

2008-12-07T15:13:00.000-08:00

This is a lot of what Jamie has been doing since getting his wisdom teeth out on Wed (sleeping). We got to play a new game this week-called Projectile Vomiting. If you haven't experienced this, I strongly suggest that you do. Here's how you can set it up. If you don't happen to feel like vomiting, just get a bucket full of gross, brown water. Stand in the doorway of your bathroom and chuck the contents of the bucket in the general direction of the toilet. Make sure to not actually get any IN the toilet but liberally douse all over the toilet bowl, and walls, and floor and in the wastebasket, and on the wastebasket and on the clean towels and on the door jam and in the kitty food dish. If you happen to have any extra left in the bucket, proceed to empty the rest of it down the sink.

Poor Jamie. That's what I get for insisting that he's not really going to vomit and just go back to bed and lay down. =) I have never seen such a mess. . .it was actually pretty funny. In retrospect-I kind of wish I had taken a photo of it. Not sure that would be blog worthy material though. =) Instead I will post a photo of my new favorite meal: braised brisket with cranberries, served with mashed potatoes and asparagus. MMMMMM!

Pop Quiz

2008-11-28T22:49:00.000-08:00

Does anyone notice anything different about my blog??

Pumpkin Pie Thankful

2008-11-26T23:27:00.000-08:00

A coffee shop today with my single short americano. The unexpected treat of fall sunshine on my face and a piece of pumpkin pie that tasted amazingly like my mom's. A long lunch break somehow turned into the start of the Holidays!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!!!

Rant

2008-09-26T23:20:00.000-07:00

The downside to living in a university town is . . . that students live there too-pesky little things. They have descended upon us in full force in the past week. Traffic around our house has gotten worse and it is hard to find parking on my street. My bus is now late, over-crowded and the bike rack is already full when the bus arrives at my stop (often with little BMX bikes-what kind of bike is that? That’s hardly different from walking and shouldn’t justify a space on the bike rack!) The students are completely lost and every other stop one of them has a 2 minute conversation with the driver about where this bus goes and which bus they should take to get them to such a place and where to catch it (hello people, this is what the Trip Planner is for. .. Metro has a very good website that most of us have managed to figure out and use before we left home!). They also have no clue about how to move to the back of the bus when it’s full causing constant re-shuffling at every stop-basic bus riding skills if you ask me. These people need to grow up, find their own city and become brisk, efficient, competent and highly irritable professionals like me.

Even in the rain, biking is better than sitting on the bus in traffic

2008-09-26T23:15:00.000-07:00

My nightmares have changed.

I use to worry incessantly about my husband dying or become utterly paralyzed by the decision of what photos to hang where in the living room. Trivial things like that.

Now my biggest fear is that someone in a parked car will open their car door while I am whizzing down the hill on my bike. I am fairly sure that I would die. Even if I managed to swerve and miss the door I would head straight out into busy traffic and be hit by the moving cars. Or if I impacted the car door and managed to still live, I would promptly be run over. The joy of my daily ride is tinged with fear as I nervously eye the endless row of parked cars that lines pretty much my entire ride home.

My second biggest fear is that I might swerve and almost hit a building while going down a hill and around a corner and trying to give an arm signal at the same time (this fear is somewhat founded since this actually did happen to me.)

Fellow Sufferers of Anxiety-take heart! Whatever your greatest fear and the source of your anxiety is will not always be so. Someday it will be replaced by something else!

Freaky Cat People

2008-09-20T23:02:00.000-07:00

Ok. . . if we weren't freaky cat people already, this clinches it. We actually purchased the "Triple Threat" (read Expensive Cat Furniture) from Costco on a Sunday Afternoon Shopping Whim. Of course the kitties love it. . . they jump up and off of it and attack each other through the holes on the platforms. I love this photo of Charlie going after Poppy's tail. Jamie says this photo proves that Charlie is actually athletic but I disagree because I distinctly remember that seconds after this photo was snapped Charlie fell flat on his side on the floor. =)

Here's our Big Boy. Note how much of him is drooping through the hole in the platform!

Love of all things BIKE

2008-09-20T22:46:00.000-07:00

Here's my baby! Ain't she cute?! She now has fenders and a rack and different handle bars and brake levers .. . . and I have big plans to eventually get her rigged out with custom wood fenders and a nice leather saddle and all the trimmings. It's been great riding so far. . .but now approaches the rainy season. . .hopefully I will be too hooked by then to mind the weather. =) Hate the break it to the parents. . .but instead of grandkids they are getting kitties and bikes!

Rethinking

2008-09-17T07:35:00.000-07:00

Jamie has had some time off this week and it has been great! I have been coming home to a tidy house, freshly baked cookies, dinner made and the dishes done, grocery shopping done, the garden watered, lunches made ahead and frozen, books on CD downloaded to my mp3 player. . .and a loving and attentive husband. All I have had to do this week is ride my bike (which I love) to my job (which I love) and clean the bathroom (which I don't mind).

Maybe I need to rethink my lifelong ambition to be a stay at home house-wife. Maybe I just need a stay at home house-husband!

Did you know. . . .?

2008-09-14T18:18:00.000-07:00

. . . that you can buy caskets at Costco???

Product Un-endorsement

2008-09-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

One day, hurrying through the in the grocery isles and in need of dish soap, this eco-friendly, phosphate free bottle caught my eye and I bought the extralargegrandefamilyrefill size. Upon using it though, I found it to be a horrible consistency and smell with no "suds" and it stained my clothes. I had a rant all worked up in my mind about this so-called eco-friendly soap that basically left the "soap" out of soap, and if that's what will save the environment than these green people can go hug a tree. . .etc etc. As I went to take a photo of the container to post my blog rant I happened to notice that the label actually says "Dish WASHER" detergent, not dish soap. Ha. Ha. Joke's on me. So actually all I can say is, I wouldn't recommend using dishwasher soap for hand washing dishes. Whether there is a difference in how much worse the phosphate free kind is over the regular dish washing detergent, can't say!

Biking Buddy

2008-09-01T09:10:00.000-07:00

Sarah is another one of my biking buddies. She often rides over to say hi, or borrow bike tools, or return our tin foil. We went for a bike ride at 3:30 in the afternoon on what was I think one of the hottest days this summer. Crazy Texans! Here she is elaborating on the finer points of shifting.

Sarah and her new bike (courtesy of the cute guy at the bike shop) and her spiffy new helmet (courtesy of Gary Danilson)

We have managed not to kill our kitties for a whole year!

2008-09-01T08:40:00.000-07:00

Poppy likes to help with the laundry as well as making the bed.

So our kitties are just over a year old and we have had them since last September. Despite us being mildly allergic to them and a few incidences when they were Bad Cats and had to run for their lives, it has been a good partnership on both ends. Here's to 15-20 more years! (oh my goodness, do cats really live that long?!)

Charlie LOVES being an outside kitty.

Confession. Yes, we actually dressed the kitties up.
Charlie is totally giving us the evil eye.

More photos of the kitties in a new online web album called Kitties Summer 2008 (link at side of blog)

Toenail Update

2008-08-25T22:12:00.000-07:00

So my poor, painful, ugly toenails made it through most of the summer, 3 weddings and convention more or less intact, and significantly helped by a generous coat of purple nail polish. The first one came off tonight. .well, almost off. It's hanging by a thread and the second is not too far behind. Even though I have had since the end of May to get use to my "toenail condition" it still made me significantly nauseated to see the toenail actually start to come off . . . enough so that I wanted to share the moment with you all, dear readers, and hopefully inspire some nausea of your own. What's friendship if you can't share things like this!

Musings over a Costco Dog

2008-08-24T20:19:00.000-07:00

Today we got to witness an argument in the Costco parking lot. Not quite hearing the words but watching the scene unfold. Mom and daughter. . . in the car parked next to us. . .outside of the car through the open window. . .back in the car again. . .storming tearfully down the parking lot . . . and finally ending (?) in tearful hugs in the rain. . .all in the space of time it takes to eat a Costco hot dog. It occurred to me, watching this and recognizing not a little of myself, that all arguments are basically about the same thing. Two wills crossing and neither one wanting to yield. It also made me think about some of the foolish and regretful things that might have been prevented by a measure of grace and humility in myself.

And the Costco dog made me burp.

Just back from Tyson and Sarah's wedding. . . Yay for them!. . it was fantastic! Will get some photos posted soon. Not sure how much time I will be allowed on the computer. . .Fantasy Football season is upon us. More good news on our front. . .Jamie has a teaching position for this year. . . .8th grade Math and Science! It is possible that he will be working so hard at that that I might be able to sneak onto the computer but somehow I have a feeling Fantasy Football will still take presidence!

Whatever Happened to Tanning??

2008-08-01T07:57:00.000-07:00

I was just realizing the other day (as I was admiring my farmer's tan in the shower) (or maybe I should start calling it a biker's tan!) that I don't go tanning anymore!

It use to be that the first weak sunshiny days of spring would throw me into a frenzy of bikini's and blankets and tanning oil. I had multiple bikini's just for tanning and a complete timed routine for turning and, of course, tanning buddies. A lot of thought went into good places to "lay out" (Tami- remember the roof of the Farmhouse?). . . the exact angle of the sun, getting a cool breeze, being fully exposed to the sun but hidden from everyone else. Lunch hours were a great time to get optimal sun rays. There was a park 5 minutes from work; with drive time and changing time that gave me enough time to flip front and back-what more could you ask for? I even bought my athletic clothes based on what kind of a tan line they would give me and that way running turned into yet another tanning session (why else do it?).

I'm not exactly sure why I went to all this trouble. . .I don't recall that I was splendidly tan. And I was rarely ever seen in my bikini unless I was tanning. . . .I guess I just must not have been very busy then. I didn't have a blog to occupy my time. =) I still have to get outside and do a little sun worship on my lunch hours. . and there is still a park 5 minutes away. . . but now it's more in the form of sitting on a park bench (fully clothed!) with some homeless people and pigeons. I do notice that the homeless people tend to like to take off clothing and "lay out" so maybe the sport is still alive!

Happy Birthday Khiana!

2008-07-31T20:33:00.000-07:00

Grandpas and Granddaughters!

Khiana turned 2 this month!!! These photos are from celebrating with ice cream and cupcakes at our house. Esther made the most ADORABLE kitty cat cupcakes which were a big hit. More photos are in the online photo album-link on the side of the blog.

Outside Cats

2008-07-19T09:53:00.000-07:00

Our kitties have now become outside cats. We were nervous about letting them out at first, because of the all the traffic and raccoons in our neighborhood but they are managing fine and LOVE to play in the bushes and landscaping around the house. Many a cat has survived outside (um, that's actually their natural habitat!). . . but it's funny how it is different when it is YOUR kitty!

Poppy adores climbing trees and even "sneaks" up the trunk to try to catch the birds that are up there. The first time she did it, I about had a panic attack. I am afraid of heights and was just sure she was going to fall-especially when she thought it would be fun to go out on a skinny little branch to reach a waving leaf. I come across sounding like a wimp here. . .but maybe you understand if you have pets (or kids?)

Charlie prefers the lounge chair. He does attempt to climb trees. . . he will lumber up to it at a run, get about 3 feet up the trunk and fall back down. Gotta love our big boy! Charlie has figured out how to operate our kitty door. Not only that, but he also can unlock it, so we really have no control over when he is in or out. Of course, he enjoys the tremendously and spent one whole day just going in and out and in and out and in. . . . . . .

The View

2008-07-19T09:33:00.000-07:00

Some photos from the 11th floor of a building Jamie has been working in this summer. It wasn't the clearest day for photos but thought it would be nice to put up some scenery photos to celebrate the city we live in. This is from UW, looking towards the Space Needle

Husky Stadium

Looking towards 520. Mount Rainer would normally be here.

The Olympics

Photo Shoot

2008-07-19T09:22:00.000-07:00

Jamie and I did a "photo shoot" with my Amsterdam the other night. Highly professional, of course! One of my co-workers has an injured cyclist program and she is making up fliers for advertising. She wanted some photos of a fun bike, that a "normal" person would ride. . . meaning someone who is clueless about bikes. . . because that is more of the clientele she is trying to reach. I think the photos are kind of goofy but since when has pride prevented me from posting photos here? =)

In the modeling world this is what they call the "I'm so pretty I can't be bothered to smile" look.

Biker Chick

2008-07-14T19:54:00.000-07:00

I rode my bike home from work today! It took about 30 minutes door to door and consisted mostly of coasting down two really big hills. =) There is a really good route on either bike lanes or side roads. 30 minutes is about how long the bus takes, plus time to/from the bus stop and more if it is running late, or doesn't come etc, etc.

My co-worker is trained in bike fits and says that my bike is too small for me. . . . oh well. . . will just have to get another one. . and maybe some bike shoes. . and a rack. . .and a new bag (my bus riding bag just won't work for biking!). . and a jersey. . . .

I have been really excited about adding my bike to my commute ever since I figured out that I can ride my bike (downhill) to a different bus stop and cut about 15 minutes out of my morning commute. I was thrilled and started taking my Amsterdam (my cruiser bike) but then had a traumatic moment when I realized that it does not fit on all of the bike racks on the buses! I of course found this out one morning when attempting to GET to work and was not exactly pleasantly surprised! I ended up having to lock my bike up somewhere for the day and Jamie gave me a ride to work but I was still late and a bit stressed out over the whole deal. Will have to do some shopping to see if I can find a commuter type bike that fits me AND the bus better. I'm catching the biking bug!

Note the Starbucks mug in the water bottle holder. . . I commute in Seattle style. =)

Oh how I LOVE summer!

2008-07-13T14:53:00.000-07:00

This is us this afternoon, sitting in the shade and enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon together. You see me with my laptop-I downloaded a million (or maybe 200) photos and organized them and will get caught up on my posting once this fantastic weather stops. . . maybe October? =)

Sunny days make me so gloriously happy!!! I feel excited just to BE. With every breath my chest is so full of happiness and lightness that I could burst. I feel like I want to hop or skip or break into song at any moment. Sometimes I do.

I think we are going to tootle off to Greenlake on our bikes. Or maybe take a nap. Happy Summer to all!

Webers come in Green

2008-07-13T14:33:00.000-07:00

This was the sight that greeted me on Thursday evening as I rounded the corner walking home from the bus. My favorite man and his new green barbecue. It was great-I pulled up a chair and dinner was served.

Just In for Summer

2008-06-07T11:00:00.000-07:00

Summer is around the corner ladies, and it's time to be up on the new fashions. What every girl wants this summer is a complete removal of the big toe nails! And we are not talking about a quick, surgical procedure here. We are talking about the full meal deal, the huge blisters under the toes, the toe nails turning purple and pulling away from the skin, the catching on clothes and agonizing pain when toes are stubbed or bumped, and then the slow falling off of the toenail. You ask, how can this look be yours?? Try hiking for 3 days (or 20 miles; if you can do it in less than 3 days even better) over boulders and gravel in the wrong shoes carrying a 40 lb pack. Or for the quick version, just have someone smash your toenails with a hammer. But hurry- get this look NOW before sandal season is upon us!

Katie 9-5

2008-06-01T16:08:00.000-07:00

This might be a good time to mention that I have recently started a new job. I am still working as a PTA but for a new clinic up on Capitol Hill. It's a regular 8 hours a day, 5 days a week sort of job, which is a switch from 4 10s for me. I am already really missing my Tuesdays off =( but it has been nice to work shorter hours of patient care. . .and have a long lunch hour again. Capitol Hill is an area that I am not too familiar with but it seems to be one of the more colorful neighborhoods in Seattle and I am having fun exploring it. (Erika-I can walk to Victrola-are you jealous?!)

I am also, gasp, commuting by bus! for the first time ever. Up until now, I had not even been on a bus since I moved here to Seattle. It means I am getting my exercise (now walk about a mile total every day) and my commute takes 40 minutes instead of 15 (always a plus to take longer to get home!), I'm meeting some of Seattle's more interesting street people, AND I'm helping the environment and traffic congestion and blah blah blah. The bottom line is that I have to pay a lot of money to park my car and my work offers a free bus pass. =) I do try to look at it as an opportunity that I can ride the bus to work-I may not always live in a city where that is possible.

All that being said, in my first 9 days of work I drove on 3 days and Jamie picked me up from work 2 other days, so we'll see how the bus thing goes! The other good thing is that I had to purchase a fantastic new bag for bus commuting, and an umbrella, and some good "walking to the bus" shoes, and a new pair of pants. . .and I think I'll need a new jacket. . . and maybe an IPod or a new laptop. . . =) The picture above is me on my first day of riding the bus (of course it rained). Below is Poppy trying to go to work with me.

This job is really a fantastic opportunity for me and I am really excited about it. It's a brand new clinic (3 years old) and a great company with a big jump in pay and benefits, plus they are the only McKenzie Certified Clinic in WA state. The McKenzie Method (or also known as Mechanical Diagnosis and Treatment) is treatment method that I have been learning and this is an opportunity that I couldn't refuse to study under some really knowledgeable therapists. Yay for Katie! It was pretty tough for me to leave my old position, even though I had not been feeling satisfied for a while. I am so glad I was brave enough to do something about it!! I also have to give a big THANKS to Kate, who mentioned this clinic to me in the first place. You probably had no idea the chain of events that casual conversation would inspire!

A Happy Cook

2008-06-01T15:44:00.000-07:00

This photo records the first time Jamie has made a meal without MEASURING. Usually when we cook I just add a little of this and a little of that but Jamie follows the recipe to the "T" and won't substitute ingredients even if it calls for cheese that costs $25/pound.

Needless to say, cooking together usually drives both of us NUTS!

When I came home from work this day he had made a Shepherd's Pie-something we make often-and was happily describing how he didn't really follow the recipe just added this and that. I had to interrupt him to document the moment! Of course, now that he is cooking like me, the quality of our meals will probably go rapidly downhill! =)

Jace

2008-06-01T15:31:00.000-07:00

Our friend Jace is famous (proven by this billboard in Port Angeles). This blog post is devoted to good times we have had recently hanging out with Jace.

Hanging out on a sunny afternoon

Comedy show at the Paramount Theater where we got bumped to 2nd row seats.

Jace cooks lunch for us and his parents.

Art for Sale

2008-05-30T22:02:00.000-07:00

There has been a trend lately of restaurants and coffee shops offering art work for sale on their walls. I was a little surprised, however, to find this art work for sale in the bathroom of a restaurant in Port Angeles. Is it just me, or does it seem a little strange to do your business, and then turn around and take the picture off the wall to bring home and hang above the sofa? (Adam-have you considered this venue for your work? There must be a million bathrooms in Chicago you could tap into. ) I guess the next question is, what was I doing with my camera in there!!!

Smile

2008-05-30T21:07:00.000-07:00

Tamila and Daren!
These were the only photos we got before our camera died. Kind of goofy photos but they made me smile when I flipped through the camera the other day and saw them. Thought I would share them.

A little crooked

2008-05-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the world is a little crooked.

Like getting 3 forks and 1 napkin with our takeout last night.

Or getting sick on a day that you already have off (this is my payback for being "sick" when D&T were visiting!)

Or having to rescue my enormous, fat, black Charlie cat from being cornered by the little stripy neighbor cat because Charlie is the worlds biggest scared-y-cat.

A blog post is coming with lots of photos from our FANTASTIC beach hike . . as soon as I can get over my angst at being sick when we are suppose to be going to Chelan Convention today. =(

Curiosity-or rather, Incessant Meowing-Killed the Cat

2008-05-13T08:20:00.000-07:00

Our kitties usually sleep in the bathroom at night. Cat owners will understand why. There is something about 4am that makes cats feel like it is the perfect time to be fed, played with and let out. (Someone should come up with a name for this.) Despite our previous experience with this phenomenon, we decided NOT to shut up the kitties last night. Here's how it went:

10:00 pm- Honey, why don't you put the kitties away? Ummm. . . Why don't you?

10:30pm- Kitties and humans all cuddled up on the bed falling asleep-ohh how precious!

2:20 am- Poppy asks to be let under the covers and curls up and starts purring. Minor irritation but compensated for by being soft and purry.

2:30 am- Wake up to a mouth full of fat cat on my pillow and a loud MEOW every 10 seconds in a "I want food" voice (this would be a good time to mention that Charlie and I play this fun game where he thinks my pillow is actually his. For every inch I back off, Charlie is there to spread out and claim it. Jamie claims that I also play this game with him when it comes to space in the bed but don't believe a word he says!)

2:46 am- Still getting a MEOW every 10-20 seconds-make sure to nudge Jamie awake so he can enjoy this too.

3:00 am-Kitties safely locked in the bathroom, humans convinced once again of their superiority in the animal kingdom.

I am not sure why Charlie couldn't wait until 4am like most cats. My only theory is . . .well . . .lets just say he really loves his food!

Rain and Asparagus

2008-04-27T20:01:00.000-07:00

I guess I should stop obsessively checking my friends' blogs and actually post an entry of my own.

Today I am thankful for rain that is NOT freezing for a change (maybe Spring is really coming) and for the fabulous prices on artichokes and asparagus at the store! I am hungering for some fantastic vegetables and I can't wait for everything to start coming into season locally.

This has been kind of a tough week for us. Jamie's grandfather (his mother's father) has been in the VA hospital for the last week and died this Saturday. He has had some health problems for a while but suddenly got sick a few weeks ago. It was a hard experience but we were also glad to be there.

We were also thrilled to have a (quick!) visit from our dear friends Tami and Daren. Between us and the Smiths, we have tried to show them the best of the city to entice them to move here (Oh, no, we're turning into Ryan and Wendy!!!). Always, always, always thankful for good moments with special people!!!

I have a bunch of fun photos to post. . .maybe will get to that this week when things return to "normal" Have a great week everyone!

My New Favorite Thing

2008-04-02T21:19:00.000-07:00

This is my new favorite coffee shop, Fuel. These photos are from yesterday when I biked down and spent the morning furiously blogging away- Fuel-ed by a chocolate croissant and an americano.

HOW COME NOBODY TOLD ME ABOUT AMERICANO'S??

They are my new favorite thing! For those who don't know- an americano is a shot of espresso with hot water- way more flavor than drip coffee but not all the fluff of a latte. Mmmm mmmm mmmm. I think my coffee addiction may be manifesting in earnest.

The Nearly Dreadful Dinner Party

2008-04-01T12:49:00.000-07:00

Baby Toriana

Charlie Investigates the Mysterious Object
no doubt thinking "Maybe I can climb in there?"
Ooops . . already occupied.

Saturday, March 15h- I was in a creative mood, had just met a new couple in town, love corned beef and cabbage, and hadn't gotten nearly enough time holding baby Toriana.. . hmm. . dinner party in the making. (Hate to admit it Jill and Trevan-but your bebe was a large incentive in inviting you guys over!!)

The night before, I set out all the dishes, arranged flowers, made a schedule for dinner (corned beef, cabbage, potatoes-a one pot dish, super easy, always turns out great), found limericks which I copied onto the napkin holders-the works. Ready to party.

Nearly Dreadful Part #1= Small hitch that my husband woke up that morning with a horrible cold. . . tough luck-here's some Kleenex-we're not canceling my party-I have the dishes laid out!

J&T and Brian and Carla Blakeman came and we had a really nice time in between Jamie's sniffles. Of course the only photos I took were of the baby! Charlie and Poppy were incredibly curious about Toriana-they had to come and sniff her when she was sleeping, Charlie tried to get into her car seat with her and they both freaked out and ran away when she started making little noises.

The second Nearly Dreadful part involves us getting a new oven the day before the dinner party (which is actually one inch smaller than our old oven if you can believe that! I don't know how much smaller they can make them and still call them ovens!) Apparently it is somewhat faulty or I haven't figured out the temperatures yet because the food took twice as long to cook and the potatoes turned out gummy-turning a really simple, good meal into a bit of a nightmare.

Luckily we had great conversation and it's not every day one is forced to recite limericks! Our guests were very gracious, and I don't think we got too many of them sick so I guess the party was a success!

Check the online photo album for more photos of baby.

Addison Edyn

2008-04-01T12:36:00.000-07:00

Erika and Kevin had their baby back in Feburary when I wasn't blogging. . . so this is old news but still good news!! Addison Edyn was born on Feb 22nd (I think! Goodness-I'm a bad auntie!) These are some photos from when she was just newborn and then some recent ones when she is about a month old. She's a peach with those big cheeks and we can't wait to meet her too!! We are blessed with and abundance of baby girls of late!!!

Sweet Baby Girl

2008-04-01T12:29:00.001-07:00

We are so excited to have a new niece! We have not actually seen her because she had the nerve to be born the day AFTER we left. . . but we will hopefully visit in the next week or two. She was born on Monday, March 24th. I got 4 or 5 phone calls and messages at work that day to tell me the news-it was kind of fun! I guess I really am family! Everyone is doing really well and Naomi says that Khiana is excited and giving Katelyn lots of loves.

For Korwin

2008-04-01T12:09:00.000-07:00

This post is dedicated to Korwin, who ever so kindly pointed out the other day at lunch that I have not actually posted anything on my blog in quite a while, and therefore, cannot justifiably make the statement "I blog."

What happened to March? We had a busygoodbadnormal month.

We were sick for several weeks, acquired a new niece (Katelyn Ariana Gunter), visited the Gunter Family in Leavenworth, had a lovely dinnerforbreakfast and easter egg hunt with the Fields in Wenatchee, had a Spring Party (this was really more Katie not Jamie, and strongly featured fun shoes), had a St Pat's lunch in which guests were required to recite limericks, spent our REI dividend (for once Jamie got something out of the deal! Usually goes towards Katie's shoes and clothes!), Katie FINALLY got good comments from her co-workers on her annual work performance review (apparently I do not play nicely with others), had the workers (Jennith Hamon and Julie Robb) for lunch and a stroll to the Farmer's Market, Jamie sprained his ankle quite badly, we introduced Jace Hanks to the joys of deep water areobics. . . I think that's about it.

A lot more happens in a month than you actually realize until you sit down and add it all up.

What have YOU been doing, dear friends and family??

You might be a fuddyduddy if. . .

2008-03-01T09:42:00.000-08:00

By Friday nights, both Jamie and I are pretty tired. The wild party animals that we are-we usually end up getting some takeout and watching a movie. This week we decided we were going to have a Real Date. I had been given a generous gift certificate to a restaurant in Ballard and we thought we would go there and have a nice, long, romantic dinner. I had a really long day on Friday but the thought of our Date kept me going. When I came home, Jamie had dressed up all handsome and was wearing my favorite cologne.

Oooh La La.

So we head to this restaurant, not really realizing that it is apparently a hip place to go on Friday nights in Ballard. It's packed with all these young, hip, people and it's going to be 45 minutes to an hour wait. Not to worry. . we're on our Date. We wander the cute shops of Ballard Ave, do some shoe shopping, go to the music store. Now it's actually a hour and a half later (ie: 9:30) and they don't have a table yet but they can seat us at the bar. By this time I am STARVING, and exhausted, and have decided that the music is just way too loud and I convince my husband that I just want to go home. So we stop by the taco wagon near our house (our current favorite takeout) load up on tacos and . . .you got it. . .watch a movie. Have to laugh at ourselves and our attempt at a night out on the town. Maybe next time we will actually make it to dinner!

2008-02-26T20:47:00.000-08:00

Jamie and Kelly playing with the new camera's special features.

How many of you knew that Kelly was actually RedBeard in another life?

View of the Cameron's loft from a park across the street.

2008-02-26T20:43:00.000-08:00

We had a rousing game of National Geographic Global Pursuit-a vintage game of Janae's from 1987 and never played. I'll tell you-we are not going to wait 21 years before playing it again!

Our bearded men.

Visiting the Camerons

2008-02-26T20:35:00.000-08:00

We spent our President's Day weekend very patriotically-by heading to Canada! Janae and Kelly were fantastic hosts, cooking for us, entertaining us, showing us The Sights. Their little loft is very funky and we got to see the new business which was very impressive-even to someone who knows nothing about tools. We love having friends that we don't have to see all the time to stay close to but when we do spend time together it's extra special. =)

Please bear with the plethora of photos-I know that's what people want to see anyways-nobody reads the writing! There are more photos in an online album if you click on the link on the side of the blog. Also, for some reason I can only post few photos at a time. . ? Haven't figured that one out yet, so please bear with the multiple posts.

Breakfast of Champions

At the Shop

February Blahs

2008-02-26T13:44:00.000-08:00

There's nothing like red toenails to cheer up the February Blahs!

Amendment

2008-02-22T11:38:00.000-08:00

I should really explain that there is more of a story behind that last post. Poppy does "help" me make the bed-Charlie too. They think it's a great game and jump under the sheets and pounce on the pillows. Which may turn into a fight on the bed leaving great tufts of each other's fur. Often one or both of them will actually get made INTO the bed and remain rumbly lumps under the sheets for a while. I naturally found this quite charming and endearing.

For about the first 20 times it happened.

Then my patience began to wear thin. Irritated that it was taking me twice as long to do a simple chore-I would yell at the cats and chase them off the bed. Which of course, made it all the more a game for them (how on earth will I ever manage with kids!?).

Not too long ago I was brought up short in the middle of my Bed Making Irritation and I realized how ridiculous I was being. Now I view my bed making time as time to play with my kitties and love them for being so youthful and energetic. Isn't it funny how we learn things about ourselves sometimes =)!

Chores

2008-02-18T21:58:00.000-08:00

Poppy helps me make the bed. What a good little helper she is. =)

Ode to a Car Wash

2008-02-18T14:30:00.000-08:00

I was reminded by a good friend and former house mate this weekend how I use to wash and vacuum my car Every Saturday Morning. Sadly (or not!) that habit has much gone by the wayside. With that thought in mind, and unable to ignore the fact that it is sunny and about 60 degrees, I decided to spend a portion of my President's Day washing the car. We are both much happier as a result.

Back from the Blogging Dead

2008-02-12T16:21:00.000-08:00

I am thankful for small things that make me really happy to live where I live.

Today I was driving up over a hill and all of sudden I could see the Olympic Mountains-it was incredibly clear and the sun was shining off the snow and all the jagged peaks-FANTASTIC. I miss my little view of the Olympics from the balcony of our place in Ballard.

I'm borrowing a page from Kelly's book for this next one- Conversations Overheard While Walking GreenLake This Morning:

Girl to girl= " . . it's not just about dieting-it's about learning to eat healthy food"

Woman to woman (indignantly)= ". . .that is just SO not you guys"

Woman to woman= ". . it's gotten better but she still has to make sure that I am feeding him the right foods and ironing his clothes."

Woman to crying baby= "No- I'm NOT stopping to nurse you-you nursed before we left"

9 toddlers on leashes held by 2 women= lots of crying and screaming

What do you like most about the Holidays. . . ?

2007-12-22T12:05:00.000-08:00

Four words. . . .

Egg
Nog
French
Toast!!!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Holiday High Tea a Smashing Success- notes from the Society Pages

2007-12-19T11:04:00.000-08:00

Last night a Tea Party was held at the Gunter residence in Wallingford neighborhood. It was attended by well known members of society such as, Becca Cressell, Jordana Nesvog and her guest Jenny Foster, Sue Lee and mother Hazel Lonseth, Sara Thatcher (also known as Tall Sara in some circles) Natalie Crowson and Julia Ulshafer (cousins), Linda Wilton.

The hostess was resplendent in green and red striped stockings by Target. Many guests were seen to be wearing striped sweaters in shades of red. Flats were also sported by several guests, in metalics or plaids with large buckles (very fashionable this season).

The menu was: lemon short bread, french chocolate truffles, dill butter and prosciutto on artisan bread, crab and capers on sesame rice crackers, smoky sharp cheese with assorted crackers and chocolate cupcakes generously provided by a guest. Teas served were mint, pomegranate raspberry green tea, earl grey with complimenting warm egg nog.

All appeared to be having a good time and the hostess was quoted saying " I am so fortunate to know such a wonderful group of women-I am very thankful for my friends and those who encourage me spiritually"

Hello December

2007-12-15T09:35:00.000-08:00

Finally got the December Birthday's updated. . .now that the month is half over. =) I have been asked several times. . ."What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas hmmm?" Really, I'm not hiding anything and the race went great. =) Promise a full update soon.

Lesson for the day: Cats and Romance don't mix!

We were having a nice romantic date last night and had some candles burning. . . Charlie cat managed to singe his tail in several places . . the whole house reeked of burning hair. . windows had to be opened. . cats locked in the bathroom despite vigorous protest from them. . . not quite the "mood" we were aiming for. . . but it was pretty funny!

Man Rides Bike wtih Race Walker

2007-11-27T08:53:00.000-08:00

Last night was scheduled to be my last training walk for my race next weekend; distance= a whopping 11 miles. Unfortunately all 3 of my walking partners bailed on me . . . hard to blame them as it was pitch dark, 40 degrees, and alternating between clear freezing skies and gusting wind and rain. But you know me and my schedules, things must go as planned! As I was lamenting to my husband, he volunteered (key word here) to ride his bike along side me so I could still go. So he bundled up and rode his bike at a snails pace for a little over 3 hours while I walked (and for the last few miles, I complained too!). What a sweet man my husband is! Sarah Thatcher-she's a crazy fun girl-even came and met us for part of the route. It turned out to be a pretty fun walk, much needed miles on the road, and it only took about 20 minutes for my thighs to defrost once we got home!

Kitties Learn a Lesson

2007-11-24T19:48:00.000-08:00

Here are some new pictures of the kitties. Thanks to M&D for the loan of a camera for a week so we could capture these precocious monsters on film. . . or . . .whatever we capture things on now that every thing's digital???? We left Charlie and Poppy alone for the first time over Thanksgiving. Much to our relief, they survived without us, but I think they did learn an important lesson in Not Eating All the Food on The First Day. They were very happy to see us and once the food dish had been filled and emptied, they couldn't stop giving us loves and purring. Nice to know that they are at least a little bit attached to us. . . good payoff for all the expensive cat food, organic-all natural-food grade litter and constant cleaning up of toys/re-re-arranging of the house.

I have also posted a bunch more photos of the kitties in our online photo albums-see the link along the side of the blog if you are interested.

Memorial to Katie's Garden

2007-11-24T19:20:00.000-08:00

Today, as I ripped out most of my dying plants, I though it would be fitting to share some photos and remember the glory of my summer garden. I am still a gardener in pots only, as I haven't really had an actual yard yet, but am finding pot gardening does have some advantages. They are much smaller to fill up than a whole yard (ie-not quite as expensive or time consuming to weed) and are much more portable when you move once a year!

Some lessons I learned from my garden this year:

-Daily maintenance really pays off.
-Buying quality plants from the nursery also pays off, at least later in the season. My plants from Home Depot were very disappointing.
-It is possible to start a garden in July, Little Miss Procrastinator. . . . it just costs a Whole Bunch More because you are buying larger plants.
-Iced tea tastes so much better when you are sitting in a mint green lawn chair surrounded by plants you have grown!

For more garden photos, check out my online photo album.

New Features: aka Katie had a lot of time on her hands one day

2007-11-20T08:02:00.001-08:00

Please excuse the multiple posts today-just trying to get caught up. All this training for my race has consumed all of my time the past couple of weeks! (For those of you who don't know my sarcastic typing voice, that was it!)

Just wanted to point out, KORWIN, that I have updated our blog a bit and added some New Features. On the side of the blog over by links you will find a couple of things:

Link to online photo albums-if you are interested in looking at more of our photos. This will get more interesting as I am in the process of organizing all our digital photos and making albums.

Birthdays of the Month-Just going off of the list of B-day's that I have, if I've missed someone please feel free to let me know. If you are on my list, you may or may not get a cupcake in the mail.

Book Reviews- I am always looking for good book recommendations so I decided to post a quick review of books I have recently read and found interesting.

Hope you are enjoying our blog, dear readers!
Happy Thanksgiving! (this only applies to American readers)

Keeping the Bar Low- Except for Wendy

2007-11-20T07:26:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don't already know,my next adventure, looming in the not so distant future, is the Vegas Half Marathon. Kelly, Becca, Wendy and I are headed to Vegas the first weekend in December to participate in this renowned event.

The Recent Official Consensus is that all of us, except for Wendy (who is amazing and could HOP the race faster than I could walk it), are planning to Walk the race (versus Run the race, which is the Other Option). This Consensus was reached through a process similar to this:

May- Let's run 13.2 miles- it's in December, we've got lots of time, piece of cake.

July- Maybe we should start training. Or go to Thailand for 2 weeks.

August- Running 3 miles, but also busy buying a house(Kelly), getting ready for school, sunbathing.

September-Between knee injury for Katie and teachers starting school-not a whole lot of running taking place.

October-Walking/running 3-4 miles several times a week-that adds up to 13.2, right?

Late Oct./Early Nov.-Katie decides to walk race not run and stops training (how hard can it be to walk 13.2 miles? Walking isn't exercise anyways-Gee, I'm not bitter at all about not being able to run.) Kelly gets Pneumonia for 4 weeks.

3rd week of November- Hmm. . the race is in two weeks, maybe we should go walking, Holy Cow! 6 miles is a long way to walk and we have to double this??

I tried to re-create our training schedule as accurately as possible, in case some of you want to copy it in training for your own races. Just please be sure to credit the end results to us! Despite how it sounds, we are somewhat prepared for this race and are really looking forward to a girls weekend. And some good advice from my Mom, veteran racer-"You want to keep the bar low, so you'll look great for your next half marathon" Can't wait to share with you THAT training schedule!

Pioneer Days

2007-11-20T07:09:00.000-08:00

Having recently discovered that I can live without a cell phone for 3 days I decided to further experiment in Living Without Modern Conveniences. Meaning, the remote key (aka "beeper") for my car went dead, and while I am procrastinating about fixing/replacing it I am having to manually lock/unlock my car. Every Time. By Hand. Even the Trunk.

I tell you, this is adding minutes, minutes, to my day. It's actually more that you would think, since I am usually about 25 feet away from the car before I remember and have to walk back and lock it By Hand. On a day of running errands, that could happen eight times in a row!

I feel like a downright modern-day pioneer woman. Look out Slow Food movement- here I come!

Ahhh . . it really is fall

2007-11-06T06:45:00.000-08:00

There have been two days recently where I actually had to scrape my car in the mornings! It reminded me of this little adventure. This was few days before our wedding and I had an appointment at the spa in the morning to get beautiful; Sarah was going to come with me to talk about planning. It snowed that night and they ended up calling me at 8 am to cancel my appointment because the person got snowed in-BUT-they did have another appointment in like 15 minutes. So Sarah and I are frantically throwing on clothing and dear Tyson ran outside in his shorts and scraped my entire car with a credit card so we could leave. That is especially amazing if you know what Tyson is like at 8am. What a guy.

Housewife

2007-11-06T06:24:00.001-08:00

I got up early today, on this my day off, to have breakfast with my hubby. I feel like such a housewife, standing at the front door in my bathrobe and slippers to wave him off to work. I really love that feeling! It's nice to still be excited about being a wife, Jamie's wife, even after, gasp, 8 whole months of marriage.

This photo was taken on our honeymoon when we went out to breakfast at LePichet.

The times we live in

2007-11-05T14:45:00.000-08:00

I don't know which is worse.

The feeling of utter panic and "disconnected-ness" that you feel upon discovering that you have lost your cell phone-really lost it, not just put it down somewhere. (Am I really that dependent upon that little hunk of plastic?)

Or getting your phone back after 3 days and actually being disappointed and feeling a little bit lonely upon discovering that you didn't have a single missed call and somehow the world just managed to tick along without you.

I remember the day when I swore I would never get a cell phone-or if I did I would just leave it at home-because I didn't like the fact that people would be able to get a hold of me anywhere, any hour. Now it seems incredibly difficult to function without one for a few days. Granted, we don't have a home phone, just our cell phones, but still. . . makes you think.