Hazel Dell Parade 2023

Hubby and I met Sandy at her abode and watched the parade from her driveway. It was fun as always. I didn't get a single pic until we were driving home. 

Haaaaaaaaa

Sandy and I always make plans to be in next year's parade. We'll see if it actually happens in 2024. 

Good news: I weighed myself this morning and saw a weight I hadn't seen in a long time, in a good way. Looks like the no-sugar-limited-flour thing is working! 

House and Garden Day

Normally this would be Walkabout Friday, but I decided instead to stay home and tend to household matters. Here's a list of what I did today.

- Got breakfast at Sbux and took Hubby to work

- Drove home, ate breakfast, watched a few minutes of Desperately Seeking Susan

- Folded blankets, put them in the couch cubby; found two throw pillows I've been meaning to give to Goodwill; they were filthy so I put them in the tub to soak

- Snuggled babies. Miss C has a fever 

- Put together my new wind spinner, a Mother's Day gift from M and the babies

- Installed the wind spinner outside B's window

- Watered the shrubs and trees in front with M and the babies; vinegared a few sidewalk weeds

- Spoke to our favorite neighbor, Bill, who lives across the street

- Cleaned up garbage and moved just about everything from the south side yard to the backyard. Used my recently-fixed wheelbarrow to move some heavy stuff. Decided to name it Cisco after Kevin Costner's horse

- Rested. Whew.

- Blogged. Heyyyyy 

- Did some pruning...

- Some watering...

- Some nice loud cleaning of the very dirty hammock

- Sat outside in the shade with this guy

....all while either making lots of noise or eavesdropping on the neighbors 😁

(cuz I'm 12)

Sitting out here, I realized what a sweet little shady spot is right here under the apple tree. Maybe we need to lay down some outdoor tiles and create a living space 

- Ate lunch late, unbagged my latest Goodwill yarn bundle, turned on The Truman Show

- Picked up Hubby from work; rested

- More pruning

- Installed my Mother's Day gift from B, this cute hanging birdbath

- Listened to Hubby mow the front lawn

Feeling a lot better about things tonight. Work and productivity always help me. Remind me of that next time, won't you?

It's tired in here

Last night, I was so upset about some stuff that happened yesterday that when I finally did fall asleep, it was around 2 AM - so I had about three hours of sleep. 

I survived work, came home and tried/failed to nap, read a few chapters of my library book, picked up Hubby, and we drove up to Sandy's to pick up the drapes she wanted to give us. Wendy's for dinner, Jeopardy!, BED.

"It's the sugar, stupid"

But First: My new Sbux mug! So pretty!

My new work breakfast: Coffee with Natural Bliss creamer, hard boiled eggs with taco sauce (try it) and plain instant oatmeal with dried cranberries and sliced almonds. I'm trying to be so good and I'm nauseated most of the time and just want to eat junk food, so when I find something I like that's okay for me to eat, I'm gonna blog the hell out of it. Here you go.

To quote Phil Hendrie: SUGAR IS POISON, SUGAR IS DEATH. It's trying to kill me AND make me fat, neither of which I can tolerate. Sugar is bye-bye.

After work, B and I went to Taco Time (for him), Goodwill (for me - bought more yarn and a new cup and saucer), and then I dropped B off at home and took off for the pharmacy for R's new prescription. I popped it in the mail for her and came home.

TIRED but we're home

We had another big day. After breakfast we packed up and left the hotel, picked up R at her apartment, and took her to Sbux, where I bought a new mug, and we enjoyed brunch and a few games of Uno at an outside table. Then it was off to Costco for the obligatory cookies, then we took R home and hugged her goodbye for now.

Hubby had a Casmella's gift card from his soccer team, so we stopped at the Lacey store and decided on a couple of things: a new 8 man tent, a small lantern, and a fun Outdoor School book. We also liked this sign.

We had Taco Smell in Tumwater, and enjoyed a beautiful afternoon on the road. Now we're home and so tired. Whew!

Happy Motherboy Day*

Woke up in Everett, Washington.

The thing I love about trips is the time to work on projects that I somehow never get to when I'm at home. For example:

This morning we had breakfast, filled up the gas tank, and took off for North Cascades National Park. What a perfect day for a drive! If only all vacations could be taken in May...

This guy and his equipment

The happy dullards 

"Stop grousing!" She was so still.

This peak tried to follow us home

Snow??

Snow!!!

Glaciers at work. We read that these mountains are "young" and still growing. Kind of a sobering thought 

Our favorite waterfall 

Loved these sweet pink blossoms

"Don't climb on the turbine"

And now we are tiredly eating dinner at Ram Brewery in Marysville, Washington, and afterward heading to R's game. Got that, stalkers?

*Motherboy

Mother's Day 2023

What a great day. Hubby and B made a delicious breakfast for M and me, H and A came over and ate with us, M and I received lovely gifts (my new lounger from Costco!), and C came over for a visit. Then Hubby and I took off for Everett, Washington, to visit R and watch her soccer game on Monday night. 

Highlight of the Day:

I HUGGED ALL FIVE BABIES

...even this one:

Later: dinner in Everett (meh) followed by ice cream (yay!!) Then back at the hotel, I crashed hard. Fun new word: CARBOLEPSY

The Sunny Morning

Walkabout Friday #2: It's Official

Walkabout Fridays are now a thing (for me): I bought The Card. It works pretty slick! 

Where dat bus at

Found myself at the mall. Found myself some sushi. Read for a while at the library (cough *nerd* cough). Bought some coffee and headed home.

Freckle City! Population: Me

This is the tree at Grandma and Poppy's house. It's grown a bit in the last fifty-plus years. I wonder if Poppy had any idea of how tall it would grow. 

Later:

Outdoor shenanigans. We went out front and gave the baby trees and the shrubs a drink.

CICO (or vice versa)

The day's workout (with my gym pal)

Later: Mod Peeza for Hubby and me

Howdy from the doctor's office

It's time for checkups. 

Diagnoses: both girls are growing like weeds.

They both had shots and neither of them made a peep! Color me impressed!