Our Anniversary

Out for breakfast. 

We spent the day together and did awesome stuff like watch the first episode of this season of Survivor. 

Later: dinner at WildFin - tasty and their chocolate cake is amazing. 

We still like each other after all this time! Life is so good.

Boo-boos, eh

Miss R's yucky bug is still with us, so we're seeing the doctor. Based on her symptoms and history, I'm guessing tonsillitis, but I'm not the one with the medical degree. 

Silver lining: we've discovered the magic of chicken broth from a bouillon cube. It's all she's eaten for the last 24 hours. But it tastes good and feels okay on her poor throat, and it's such a quick and easy thing to make.

In other crappy health news: my mom texted this morning that Brother B had a heart attack last night. He's going to be okay. He had an artery block that has already been treated, and he'll stay in the hospital for another day or two. Scary stuff, but we feel very fortunate that he was in Richland and not traveling somewhere when it happened. It's a good wake up call for all of us. 

This evening: Hubby had soccer practice and I watched Twilight with Diesel.

truth

Later: R is sick. She wanted company, so Hubby stayed home and worked, and he and I spent the afternoon in her room. I read the first few chapters of Midnight Sun aloud. She slept a bit.

And later still: I took care of the little girls and put them to bed while M and B enjoyed a movie out together. The girls are so funny, and they're so much easier now than they were when they were 16 and 28 months old (who knew??). It was a cozy evening.

Hey, Bud

I see you.

I also see blue sky! 

I see this, whatever this is

Later

"How am I gonna be an optimist about this?"

This morning, we did our big Sunday breakfast for the whole family and had fun being together. Yay for ginormous family time! 

Hubby had a couple of soccer games this afternoon and I'm still not good being alone, so it was time to get busy with something. First I completed a long-overdue patrol of the litter around my block, then took off for the nearest bus stop.

Just riding around like Ridey Riderson

Depression is a real pain in the butt, but one fun thing about it (if there is anything fun about it) is getting creative with finding ways to soothe the sadness and ease the pain in my chest. Riding public transit does that for me. Why? I don't know, but I'm leaning into it. Do not question the magic of bus riding.

I ended up at Sandy's, home of this inspiring mural

...and Hubby met me there. We chatted with the soon-to-be-moved-out Sandy, and then he took me home. Quite a lovely afternoon and evening.

Sandy is moving

It makes sense; she's moving back to her hometown, to be with her family. But I'll miss her so much and I'm so sad. She picked me up early and bought breakfast for Hubby and me. She's so lovely. There will never be anyone else like her. 

Olympia Day Trip

Office Space

Last Friday, when it was dead here and I had nothing to do but supervise Mike, I reorganized my workspace. Here are pics:

LOOK AT SEASIDE.

I emailed the music department secretary and told her I wouldn't be playing with the pep band on Saturday. She's been great to work with and always had a friendly smile and kind word, so I thanked her for that. I made no mention of Dr. Fatbottom, but she cc'd him in her response. I wonder what he thinks (if anything).

She's bored. She likes to wear earrings.*

Work was fine. I liked my outfit. 

Home sucked from the word "go". M's gross ex was being her disgusting self and threw a major stench onto the day. M was so upset. We used it as a reason to bundle up the little girls and go get McDonald's for lunch. I was in such a terrible mood that I decided to ride the bus to the college for tonight's pep band gig (that way, I couldn't injure anyone important, and the walk was good for me).

Also: I'm done with pep band. Some of the kids are nice, but they're kids; I probably own socks older than these people. During my first year of working at the college, my shifts were sporadic, and every bit of income was welcome. But now that I work a regular schedule, it's not worth the money to have to sit there and feel weird and watch basketball. 

Also, Dr. H is a jackass for making us play "Fat Bottomed Girls" during the women's games.

The butthole in his natural habitat 

That's a jerk move and I'm done with it - done enough that I added a note to my calendar to remind me to ignore all future pep band emails (usually they start to arrive during fall quarter). NO SPANK YOU.

Speaking of jerk moves, I couldn't find my instrument after coming back from our break (men's first half). One of my sharp-eyed benchmates spied it set on a stand at the end of our row. Someone touched my instrument and I'm pretty sure it was The Butthole. What the hell?? Other people left their instruments sitting on the bench during their break. Only mine was moved, and nothing was said to me about where it was, so I was left to look for my clarinet as we were about to play something! What an ass!

So this clinches it: I'll be sick on Saturday. Ahem. See ya, peppies.

I bid my two sweet young benchmates adieu, dropped off my stand and music, and flipped off the old professor as I left the building. I doubt he saw me do it, but it made me feel better.

I blame R for being a bad influence

And THEN there was DQ. 

*if you recognize this quote, you're an 80s movie god/dess. I always thought it was the perfect blend of funny and cruel

The Living Graylights

Title: We've reached that point of winter when the sun is up by the time I drop off Hubby and get myself to work. It's still winter, however, and the sky is usually gray, so it's not that we see more sunshine - the gray just goes from dark gray to light gray a little earlier in the day. Hey, I'll take it! 

Work was fun, as always. The store manager is away at a conference all week and we definitely took advantage. After work, I had a nice walk and talk on the phone with Brother E.

At home tonight: M made pork loin and potatoes. I took a gigantic bath, and watched Finding Your Roots and sewed more yo-yos.

Presidents Day 2024

Everyone is home today, except R, who will be home tonight.

I had a shrink appointment and bawled a lot.

Found this on FB and liked it - it looks absolutely doable.

It's been a beautiful day so far

Eating Valentine's Day chocolates, watching Far and Away, and crafting

I had breakfast with my dear Sandy this morning, FINALLY, because the holidays were goofy and we've both traveled quite a bit already this year and things have been busy. We ate at C@meo Cafe up at the golf course by Costco, then headed down to Michaels on Jantzen Beach. I bought some teeny embroidery hoops with my birthday gift card - I will probably cross stitch something for a couple of them, frame some cute fabric with the rest, and arrange them together somewhere. 

We chatted a lot about mental health, and being busy, and buying things that we think will make us happy (things can't make us happy), and we bring the things home and add them to our pile of stuff and end up feeling overwhelmed and guilty about having more clutter around. It inspired me to just slow the hell down, enjoy the things I have, and spend more time with Sandy and the other people in my life. And to declutter, always, but with an end game in mind: to be able to have folks over more often.

So here we are. I feel a lot closer to having figured some things out, and it feels good.

The super chill Saturday

Played "beauty shop" with these ladies. Little C saw me curling my hair and asked me if I would do hers, which brought Little R into the bathroom with the same request. They also wanted some "lip-stit", and I was happy to oblige. They were so funny and cute; I love Little C's face in this one. 

Below: I cut more yo-yo circles. I inherited quite a bit of Neenaw's fabric, and this floral piece came from two sleeves she or someone else had sewn and never attached to anything. I picked out the stitching.  

 

I also spent a butt-ton researching my Keithlers in Montana and Wyoming, and Hubby and I took a trip to the grocery store. 

Felt like a walkabout

So here I am, at the bus stop

I know I said "walkabout" but what that really means is "don't use a car"

The wind is blowing and it's COLD

Hey, Portland

This corner looks fun

Hey, Hubby 

Earlier: I worked Dan's open-to-close shift again. It was mostly uneventful - I decluttering my office area. An old ward friend showed up from out of town, unaware that B and I work at the college, and I helped her exchange the sweatshirts she ordered for some in a better size. It was nice to see her and meet her grandkids.

And then: We took this weirdo to the train station - she's spending the weekend with Hannah and Kate at Kate's dorm apartment. I'm excited for her (tired face notwithstanding).

Queer Luncheon

Valentine's Day 2024: Just remember the two key elements

Morning: Valentine's Day fun was had as M and the little girls and I made cards and played with glitter, glue, scissors and construction paper. I love these times with the babies. They so enjoyed themselves.

Afternoon: We bought tickets to go to Vegas next month, for a soccer tournament Hubby's team will play in. Now that I've been there a few times and know what I'm dealing with (ugh), I'm ready to show the place NO MERCY. 

Evening: Back playing with pep band (I skipped a gig when we went to Boise that weekend). 

Every time I do this, I feel weird about being the only "mom" in the pep band, but then we play something and sound GREAT, and I remember how much I love it. It is what it is. I didn't play with them last year and I don't know that I'll do it again next year. We'll see. Maybe I'll be satisfied with marching band and concert band. 

Thank Goodness For My Coworkers

Work: Mad Lib for tomorrow. One of the folks at the store has a conference and will be gone all next week, and we can tell she's going to miss us because HOLY CRAP is she being a monstrous pain in the butt.

Otherwise, work was a blast and we laughed the entire time. That's probably what pissed her off.

Therapy: Tough - the depression and anxiety are at bad levels. I can't spend time alone right now. Shrink told me to start taking vitamin D. 

The rest of the night: Better. I watched an episode of Finding Your Roots and a movie, The Holdovers.

What the hell, Monday???

It was actually a good day, just with a bumpy beginning for me at work, made a little more stressful by my doing everything alone on Friday - I worried that I must have done something wrong. The bumps were soon resolved, though. 

After work, R and I went to the store, I took her and the groceries home, and I grabbed some lunch and went back for B. Baby time, chill time, pick up Hubby time, dinner time, TV time, bath time.

Super Bowl 2024

We had a lovely day making foods and watching Naked Gun movies and the big game with the kids - we saw all five kids today, which always makes me giddy.

Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs! We weren't really rooting for either team, and it worked out that both teams' colors were both red and gold because that made for tasty Super Bowl jello. It was a fun game to watch.

The Big Saturday

Hubby and I ate our breakfast, then headed out for some time together. 

I spent my Christmas gift from M, a Joann gift card...

...on remnants, a combo of cottons and flannels, just over seven yards' worth. I have a major thang for remnants. They're so random and treasure-hunty.

Then at farmers market, we bought a loaf of chocolate chip banana bread and a raspberry cheesecake brownie; then it was off to WinCo for Super Bowl chow items (along with half the city).

Some chillage, then Hubby left to coach his soccer game.

These two are going to a Valentine's party with the friendies.

R, Hannah, and Kate are playing indoor games tonight. 

I'm in charge of these two.

I'm very blue again today. Hubby pointed out that I've been sad since I came home. My next appointment is Tuesday.

Dan's not here today!

Commence the goofing off!

(We actually goof off more when he's here. He's the biggest goof.)

Yesterday's genealogy excursions laid me a bit low. I didn't do much for the rest of the day and was pretty blue by the time Hubby came home. He thinks I'm too much of an empath to have the sad genealogical events not affect me. I mean, yeah, my young cousin suffered a frightening, heartbreaking death that shattered his family. How does that not affect you?

Whatever, I'm still doing it! Just maybe tweaking the times when I work on it, so it's not during my days off work. Work seems to be a great mood-builder, which is odd and something to explore. It prevents the blue from sneaking up on me at night. 

Back at work: We're doing our yearly "Don't Be A Poopface Employee" training. It doesn't change from year to year, so whizzing through it is pretty easy - it's taking the thing seriously that's the challenge.

What's even happening in this pic

I opened AND closed the bookstore today, and I'll be opening it Monday morning. They better watch it or I'm gonna start thinking I own the place. HANDS OFF MY BOOKSTORE.