Happy Anniversary to Us

Today Clay and I celebrate 19 years of marriage. Our festivities got off to a little earlier start than we expected.

Last night we went to bed about 11:40pm. At 12:10am (soon after falling fast asleep) we were awakened by the piercing blare of our apartment complex's fire alarm system. We have of course heard this sound quite a few times before having lived in this apartment for many years. It's a sound no person could sleep through or even remain in the same room for more than the seconds it takes to dress and leave. I suppose that's the point.

There were about 100 of us gathered outside on the front lawn waiting for the fire department to arrive. We are fortunate to live less than a mile from the nearest fire station. We were visited by one fire engine, a ladder truck and a third smaller fire department vehicle. All the emergency lights had folks in the neighboring townhomes out on their lawns to view the spectacle. Fortunately there was no real fire and the most exciting thing to look at were all the firemen in their gear and some carrying hatchets.

After about half an hour we were given the okay to head back inside where we fell back to sleep quickly. It made for a good excuse to say "Happy Anniversary" to each other a little earlier than expected.

On Thursday we head to Vancouver, BC for a couple days to celebrate properly. It was 20 years ago on Thursday when we met in person for the first time after developing our relationship over what we like to call "the information superhighway when it was just a dirt road."

We can't wait for the next 19 years. :)

Mall Construction

There has been a lot of construction going on in our neighborhood of Northgate. Near our home is a newly constructed medical building, and the neighborhood has a brand new public library and community center.

The largest project is a renovation of Northgate Mall. Northgate was the first regional shopping center in the United States to be described as a mall and is 56 years old. The inside has seen renovations but the exterior hasn't been overhauled in many years.

News is that the modifications will make quite a difference in the way the mall looks from I-5. They are supposedly creating an attractive facade so passersby on the freeway will want to stop and shop.

As you can see they are hard at work moving great mounds of earth. What you can't see are the great holes created by all this digging. They are building several unattached structures - parking garages and other buildings which will sit in what is now a large plain parking lot. The project will add 100,000 square feet of retail space to the mall.

I wonder if we will still be living in the neighborhood when the construction is complete.

A Blast From the Past

You may know that Seattle was host to the World's Fair in 1962. The Seattle World's Fair was more than just a fair. Also called the Century 21 Exposition, it featured futuristic buildings, cars, transportation systems and scenarios of what life might be like in the 21st century.

That event occasioned the building of the Space Needle and the development of the grounds around it which are now referred to as the Seattle Center.

My sister Jozi's friend Dan went to the World's Fair in Seattle when he was a child. He bought some postcards at the Fair and has saved them all this time. Jozi scanned in a few of them and I share them here. Seattle looked a lot different back in 1962. For example, I look at this photo and wonder where did all the tall buildings go?

These photos show how different the grounds looked with an actual World's Fair in place.

Notice the futuristic-themed attractions.

But some things have changed little in the last 44 years. This photo, for example, could almost be duplicated today:


For you Seattleites out there, who remembers the Bubbleator?? Yes, I know, I'm dating myself. :)

XXX Rootbeer Drive-In

On Tuesday we went to the Triple XXX Rootbeer Drive-In in Issaquah. It's the oldest drive-in in Washington state and they have lots and lots of nostalgic items there. A specialty theme for them is classic cars. On summer weekends they have car shows. This photo is a postcard I picked up at the restaurant showing a typical car show event.

The food is really tasty (although not too healthy). They have old-fashioned rootbeer floats, Coke in multiple flavors (from chocolate to banana) and all their menu items are named after classic cars. You can view the car show schedule and their menu at their web site or read more about their history at the Issaquah History Online site.

Put a Smile on Your Face

My mother-in-law sent us this funny web page. Check it out if you've ever wondered what's on the back side of a smiley face!

http://d21c.com/terri1/flash/smile.swf

The Passenger

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Mom and I brought home a third "passenger" on our return trip from Roseburg, Oregon. I didn't want to post a picture then because my sister Jozi hadn't yet met Tony. Tony was our third passenger - a large stuffed gorilla! Someone gave the gorilla to my brother a while ago and he didn't really have enough room so was looking for a new home for it. My mother named him Tony and they have been inseparable ever since. He sits in a chair in her living room and she introduces all the visitors to him. She tells me that every once in a while she has to stop and shake hands with him. Too fun!

Car Troubles

Last Tuesday I had the day off and we were going to go to North Bend to do a little shopping and maybe stop by the XXX Root Beer Drive-in in Issaquah. First I ran a couple of errands around Northgate. Just as I got home and was driving into the parking garage the battery light went on. Darn!

Well I called up Saturn and they told me that either the battery was bad or (more likely I believe) the alternator was going out. They advised me not to drive the car until I can bring it in. Well no problem, when can I bring it in? Today?? Nope. How about a week from today. They couldn't give me an appointment until next Tuesday!

This is when I feel fortunate to live in Seattle where bus transportation is easy and I can get everywhere I need to go without my car. The North Bend trip will have to wait a little bit, and we will be using a couple rolling carts similar to the one pictured to get our groceries tomorrow night. Thankfully the weather is nice and we will just be getting a little more exercise than usual.

Baby Shower for Elliott

It was a busy day in the office today. We had a noontime baby shower for little Elliott and his parents. There were fun decorations...



and wonderful gifts...


and a couple special visitors (thank you for coming Elena and Aiden!)


Elliott enjoyed getting passed around and meeting everyone. But he slept through a bunch of it.

If you would like to see more pictures from the shower click on the sleeping Elliott.

Elliott Visits the Office

My tiny friend Elliott visited the office yesterday. We'll call it an "unofficial" visit because it was a weekend day and he didn't really get to meet any new people. His dad (Doxey) had to work and his mom (Cynthia) and Elliott brought Doxey some lunch.

Elliott is 1 month old today. His due date was two days ago. He hit 6 pounds at the doctor's the other day. He's doing pretty great.

Here's a picture of Elliott giving his dad a bit of a hard time.

I love this sweet photo of him sleeping in his mama's arms.


And of course I got to hold him too!

More Postcards from Susan

I checked my mail slot on returning from vacation to find it brimming with postcards. Wow, what a treat! Susan continued sending me postcards from pretty much every destination on her trip. What a fun way to share with me her family's adventures. Thank you Susan - how thoughtful of you to think of me.

This first card is from Hershey, Pennsylvania. Of course they toured the chocolate factory. Susan tells me on the card that the town smells like chocolate! I can't imagine that.


This card she picked up at Gettysburg. According to her note, Susan is related to Robert E. Lee!


And this one is obviously a beautiful card from Washington DC where they visited the Museum of National History, Museum of Air & Space and the National Zoo among other sights.


And last but certainly not least - New York. I love this photo of the Statue of Liberty.


It's amazing to me that Susan found the time to send all these postcards while traveling. She is in Los Angeles with her family right now. Her dad just suffered his second stroke in a couple weeks. My thoughts and prayers are with her and her family at this difficult time.

Trip to Roseburg, Oregon

I just got back from a trip to Southern Oregon. I took my Mom to see my brother John who lives in a nursing home in Roseburg. It was a good trip and we had a nice visit with John. He seemed in quite good spirits despite his physical troubles and having few visitors.

We drove down on Wednesday and back on Friday. The drive itself was not too bad. We made lots of stops so we could stretch our achey joints and snap out of any drowsiness. The scenery in Central Oregon in particular is so different from Western Washington. Mom commented on how it's nice to just have different scenery.

Central Oregon is very agricultural. We saw many, many farms alongside the freeway. Most were raising crops such as corn, hay, and grapes for wineries. We also saw quite a few sheep farms.

I kept noticing what looked like mini duststorms. At first I was very curious to find out what was causing that. If the "dust" had been a different color I would have thought it was smoke from a fire. But as we approached the area where each cloud of dust was lifting, it became clear that a dust cloud meant a tractor was busy tilling a field.

One thing I will not miss about Oregon is that they allow triple trailer trucks on the road. That's not something we have in Washington. I find trucks a bit intimidating anyway because the drivers have so many blind spots. But a triple trailer makes for even more of a hazard.

I thought maybe Mom would sleep much of the way, but she didn't. She stayed quite alert amusing herself with all the different scenery. At a couple of the rest stops she found the pet area quite entertaining. There were some really cute little dogs. As we were preparing to leave one rest stop she pointed at a small animal and asked "is that a dog?" I looked, and it was a little far away to tell for sure, but I thought it was a cat. I noticed the owner had it on a leash, though, ad I don't usually see cats on a leash. But maybe they have to be at a rest area, right? Then it moved. And by moving I mean it HOPPED! Again and again. It was a pet rabbit! Very cute. It sure made us laugh.

Roseburg is a very nice little town in a beautiful setting. I am always amazed at how friendly people are there!

On the return trip we had a third passenger in the car. I would post a picture, but I haven't told my sister Jozi the specifics of the extra passenger, and she will meet him on Saturday when she visits Mom. I don't want to spoil any surprise, so I think I will wait until then to post a photo.

It was nice to take a couple days and have a little change of pace. Now it's back to the routine - such as it is.