My Birthday

Monday was my birthday and I have to say it was totally fun and relaxing. Just the way a birthday should be.

Here are some of the ways I celebrated:

• -- Didn't go to work (very important!)
• -- Slept in
• -- Read birthday cards
  
• -- Met friends Jim, Kristina and Elena for ice cream (my favorite food!)
  
• -- Shopping - bought new clothes and shoes (spent some money that came in the cards)
• -- Lovely dinner at Romano's Macaroni Grill in Lynnwood

Thanks to those who sent birthday cards. I got a really beautiful selection of cards this year including some funny ones. One of my favorites had this great quote:

"Birthdays are like chocolates ... you never want to admit how many you've had!"

Amen to that. :)

Of course one of my favorite things in the world is spending time with good friends so I loved hanging out for a bit with Jim, Kristina and Elena. Thanks guys for making my birthday special!

Here is a little slideshow of Elena eating her ice cream. If you would like see a super short movie of her "riding the ponies" head on over to Cozzie's Clippings. Yes, that's a pony she's holding. Maybe you've figured out that Elena likes ponies!

Matt's in India

My friend Matt has long wished to travel. At 24 he saved up enough money so he could do it. Earlier this month Matt left for a month-long adventure in India. From time to time he emails with details of his journey. Wow, what a great time he is having - experiencing and learning lots plus meeting some new friends along the way.

I don't get to do much (any) exotic travel myself so when my friends go on a trip to just about anywhere I love it when they send back pictures or postcards. Matt took his digital camera along and has been sharing a few pictures here and there. I thought I would share some of my favorites here. There are 9 photos in this little slideshow.

St. Patrick's Day Parade

What a fun time I had at the parade! My little friend Elliott came to watch Todd and Wendy in the parade too and he brought his folks Doxey and Cynthia along.

Elliott is 8 months old and this was his first parade ever. I think he enjoyed it. You will see from the pictures that he had a little nap while we were waiting for the parade to start. But once it got going he was wide awake.

Todd did not warn us that we might need to learn to swim in order to see this parade! It started raining well before the parade started and the rain got heavier as the start time neared.

We got to the parade route early because we didn't know how many people might be there and we wanted to secure a good spot. Doxey and Cynthia found a great overhang for us to stand under. Once the parade got underway we had to leave the overhang to get close enough to see and photograph any action.

The rains continued through the parade and most everybody in the parade got soaked. We were feeling sorry for Todd and Wendy who were the flagbearers in the parade, but you will see from the pictures and video they were smiling through it all and didn't seem to mind the wet.



To see more pictures from the parade you can click on either photo above and use the Next and Prev buttons in Webshots to navigate the album. OR, you can view the 4 minute video below which includes both video clips and photos from the day. You will see that the weather didn't dampen a lot of spirits and there was plenty of fun to go around.

Thanks Elliott, Doxey and Cynthia for coming to watch the parade with me. And thanks Todd and Wendy for agreeing to be in the parade so we could watch!

The "C" Word

A week ago yesterday was a sad day for us. We got two pieces of bad news on the same day. First, Walter's brother called to let us know that Walter's mother has been diagnosed with breast cancer and she must undergo a mastectomy this coming Friday.

As a woman I can't imagine what it would be like to be told one has cancer. What a scary thing. At first Walter's mom was so upset she had to ask Rusty to call Walter because she was afraid she would be too emotional. Walter has talked to her since of course, and I spoke with her just the other day. She seems to be handling it okay, but I know it's hard. As she put it to me, "you just never think you're going to have to say those words: 'I have cancer!'" Surely that sort of thing only happens to other people. None of us thinks it will be us.

Genora's breast cancer is Stage 2 which I'm told means she needs a mastectomy but should not have to undergo radiation or chemotherapy. The blessing as I'm told by my mother's doctor and also by Genora (who heard it from her doctor) is that when you are "more mature" shall we say, you have less hormones which feed the cancer and your chances of survival are greater because the cancer does not spread as quickly. That's why you hear about very young women dying of the disease.

Are you on schedule for any mammograms needed? Do you do your breast checks monthly? (Those questions are for the ladies, of course.) No one deserves to go through what Genora will be going through, but sometimes it happens. We have to take care of ourselves as best we can.

Now for the second piece of news received. Last year my good friend Betty passed away. I try to keep in touch with her dear mother Helen who is a very sweet lady and did a wonderful job of caring for Betty in her last year of life. We got a New Years' card from Helen. Her note inside explained that she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in early December.

I don't even know what to say about that news. I have been told that pancreatic cancer can be particularly painful. I am going to try to call Helen tomorrow. I wish there were something I could do to help her.

On the up side, both these ladies have families who love them and who will do a good job of taking care of them. Please keep Genora and Helen in your thoughts and prayers.

Greetings from Jim, Kristina and Elena

Here is another of the wonderful pictures I got in my pre-Christmas mail. I meant to post this one quite some time ago, and the busyness of the season slowed me down.

Not only did Jim, Kristina and Elena send along the greeting card with this photo, but they also did one of those creative family newsletters. I love holiday newsletters. There was something in this one about tater tot casserole. I might have to get that recipe.

Thanks Jim and Kristina!

A Few Pictures

Last night we had a good time visiting our friends Wayne, Michelle and Nikka. This picture shows Wayne, Nikka and Chip (aka "Beastie" the dog).

You can click on the photo to see it larger, and then you will be able to use the Next and Prev links to get to more pictures from the evening and also a few pictures from Christmas when we visited my sister Jozi.

Nikka and Family

As promised, here are some pictures I got in the mail as part of a Christmas greeting from my friends Wayne, Michelle and Nikka. You can click on the photos to see them larger.

Nikka is the little Christmas angel, and Wayne and Michelle are her Mom and Dad. What a beautiful family.

Thanks for the pictures!

Friends and Neighbors are Awesome

The last couple of days I've been worried about my mother because her home has been without power for almost two full days now, ever since Thursday night's storm. Mom is 82 years old and hesitates to take help from others because she doesn't want to be "a bother" to anyone.

Her wonderful next door neighbors John and Susan offered repeatedly for her to come to their house where they have a wood stove which keeps them warm without electricity. She kept declining their offer, and last night we all had a sleepless night because Mom insisted on spending the night in her own cold home as the temperatures dropped below freezing outside. John had seen electrical crews working nearby and we all hoped that meant her power would be on soon.

But this morning I called to see how she was doing, and the tone of her voice told me without my having to ask that her power was still not on. She was freezing and miserable. I was determined that she would not spend any more time alone in that cold house. She promised me she would eat something and then she would go next door to the neighbors. When she got there the neighbors said she was pale, very cold and crying - it was a little frightening.

Shortly after she arrived my good friend Sue (different Sue from Susan the neighbor), whom I had called the night before, arrived to check on her. She reported to me that the neighbors were taking very good care of Mom. She was sitting bundled warmly in a blanket next to the wood stove sipping a cup of tea. She was starting to feel a little better. My sister Jozi had planned to pick up Mom about 1:00 and take her on some errands and out to eat to get warm. Sue arranged that later in the day after the errands were done Jozi would bring Mom to Sue's house to spend the night.

I got a call a few minutes ago letting me know that Mom had arrived at Sue's with her bag to stay overnight. Sue has a spare room and was more than happy to have Mom come stay with her. Sue said they are "going to party" so "don't call too early tomorrow." :)

The neighbors will help Mom get her house warmed back up once the power comes back on.

Mom lives about an hour and a half away from me, and I would have been glad to go get her myself. But Clay and I do not have room in our apartment for guests, so we would have had to look for a hotel room for her.

It's such a relief to know that Mom's neighbors and my friend Sue and my sister Jozi are watching out for Mom and she's warm and safe. Thank you!!

Thank You Elena

Check out the beautiful holiday greeting Elena made for me. Thank you Elena!!

I meant to mention it earlier, but Elena's mom Kristina recently started a blog for her. You can find it over here and I've also added a link to it on the sidebar appropriately under "Friends." It's called Elena's Montage.
If you visit you will see lots of pictures of Elena and hear all about her adventures. Thanks mom Kristina for setting up the new blog!

Snow Bunny

This is my little friend Elena. She and her folks live up in North Bend where they get the real snow. Last week's weather made for some great playtime in the snow. Thanks to her mom Kristina for sharing these pics! You can click the pictures to see them larger.

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.

Baby Watch Continues

Doxey and Cynthia are still in waiting mode for the arrival of their little one. Tomorrow morning will mark 2 weeks since Cynthia's water broke. The baby is at about 34-1/2 weeks and doing well. Cynthia is feeling good and has had no contractions or other problems. Cynthia's doctor says that every day the baby stays in his mama is the equivalent of three days in a nursery once he gets out. So Cynthia is doing a great job keeping Lil G safe until he is ready to come out into the world.

A couple times a day they let Cynthia sit up in a wheelchair and she can be rolled down to a patio garden area where they have a nice fountain. The picture is Cynthia waving hello to me via Doxey's cameraphone. Hi Cynthia! Hang in there!

The latest word from the doctors is that little Elliott (which will be Lil Giuseppe's name after he is born) will be delivered via C-Section around the 6th or 7th of July.

No News is Good News

My friend Cynthia is still in the hospial awaiting her little one's arrival. Her water broke a week ago today with the baby at about 32-1/2 weeks. The longer the baby can stay inside the better for his development, but they have Cynthia on antibiotics and are monitoring her carefully for any signs of infection.

The biggest hurdle was getting past the first 48 hours because they wanted to give her some shots to help with development of the baby's lungs. Now that's past the baby can come any time. The doctors plan to do a C-section at the first sign of contractions or any indication of infection or other problems. At the longest they can wait one more week and then the baby will be delivered regardless.

Best of luck to Doxey, Cynthia and Lil Giuseppe!

Party!

Clay and I went to a bowling night party sponsored by my law firm last night. There was good food (as usual at firm events), bowling, pool, prizes, and some karaoke. When people weren't singing karaoke a DJ played some great music. It was a pretty good time for all. Well, I should say it was fun for most of us. I was almost over a cold and feeling pretty good, but I'm afraid Clay was coming down with the cold he caught from me. He was not feeling so great. Put that together with very dim "mood" lighting" and his eyesight not in great shape, and just dipping up a plate of food proved difficult.

It's always fun to hang out and visit with friends though. Matt was there and Susan. And Doxey's wife Cynthia came to the party with Clay and me. Doxey couldn't make it because he was climbing a mountain (what else is new). But he encouraged Cynthia to come (and bring Lil Giuseppe) and I'm really glad she did.

You can see from the picture that Clay and I have a hard time keeping our eyes open when getting our pictures taken. I promise, we had not been partaking of the contents of those bottles in the background.

Here are a few pictures of some of my buddies.

Matt and Cynthia (Cynthia also has a hard time keeping her eyes open for pictures)


Susan - demonstrating why it's rude to flash a camera bulb in someone's eyes just before they take their shot (sorry Susan!!)

Here's Drew, Angie and Matt - aka the Three Musketeers (MuskeBowlers?)


And here's Edwin, Marguerite and Edith having a good time:

Who's Crabby??

My friend and co-worker Angie is a very talented photographer. At our office each year we have a silent auction to benefit United Way. Employees donate items to be auctioned, many of them made by the donor.

This year's auction was on Friday. I purchased several things including a set of notecards which Angie made from photographs she took at Pike Place Market. There were many beautiful pictures in the set of cards from flowers to fruits and vegetables. But for some reason this one caught my eye.

Can you say Yumm!!