Planes, Busses, and Shampooers

Hey everyone,

 

I was planning to sit down and write a quick post but I got distracted and already a half hour has gone by and it's getting late. Let's see how much I can get done before my body says, "All done."

I bought a large carpet shampooer for work a couple weeks ago and when it came, it wasn't as advertised. So I've spent the last week trying to get this thing shipped. Not an easy task: all the emails and phone calls, little details, the paperwork... yesterday UPS packed it back up and today the shipping company picked it up. Hallelujah! I was so glad to see that thing go.

I bought a new tunic. I don't know about you but I could live in these things. I love the length, the colors, and the collar (sometimes the collar is too wide and low, and I feel... exposed.)

 

I caught a picture of Beth going out to the DART bus last week. She was headed to All Aboard for Karaoke and Art classes. You can tell because she always takes her Disney backpack filled with lined paper and gel pens. 

I spent some time at the waterfront on Sunday. I talked with the youth group about volunteering in Special Connections, and afterward headed down there for a while.

My eyes are getting tired but I want to tell you that Diana went to London over the weekend. Can you imagine? She hadn't been there in a few years so she booked a flight and was there for three days and four nights. It's the first time she was away from Adelaide for that long. I wonder how she reacted when Diana got home. I'll try to get some photos from her.

And, Sharaya has been learning how to drive a school bus and she passed her test on Friday! She now has a CDL. My dad always had one. Chuck has one. I just love that. Just one more thing she knows how to do at the school district! I'm so proud of her.

 

Well, I'm done. Does this happen to you? The end of the day your body is just like, "Okay. I'm finished." I hope you get a good night sleep tonight!

 

Routines, Chores, and Games

 Hey everyone,

 

I had kind of a fun weekend, seeing friends and hanging out with family. I'm usually an introvert, wanting to be at home as much as possible but it was a good weekend. 

 

My weekend was shorter than usual because I worked on Friday. I had the window washers out for our annual 'high window' cleaning. It's definitely a job I couldn't do! I was praying for them while they were up there!

 

We've also begun painting all the preschool rooms at work. Thankfully the maintenance department is in charge of that. Some of the custodians are helping when they have time, and it's going pretty quickly. Once they're done, then we'll come in and shampoo all the carpets. We may do that after VBA though. Vacation Bible Adventure is in the middle of July.

 

 

I had coffee with a friend from church on Saturday. We've worked together for years but haven't really gotten to know each other. We met at a local coffee shop but it was packed, so we decided to walk to a park that was just a few blocks away. Turns out we have a lot in common. It was so fun, we both want to hang out again soon. 

 

 Beth is still trying to cut back on sugar as much as possible. Here she is avoiding the candy counter while we wait to check out.

 

 For Father's Day Sharaya got Chuck tickets to see the Seattle Storm play and they went on Sunday. Chuck took her to a Sonics game when she was younger, so she took him this time. They had a great time and the Storm won! I stole this from her Insta! :)

 

 

While they were at the game, Beth, Ally and I went out for lunch, then did a little shopping. Stopped at Michaels and got some markers :) and I got plastic sleeves for my greeting cards. And a new photo album. I'm trying to empty my old peel-and-stick albums and get them all into a slide-in type of album. While we were at Kohls I found a bathing suit for our trip to California. I haven't bought one in years but it's exactly what I've looking for. It's called a swim dress and I love it. As often as I go swimming or into the ocean, this one should last me the rest of my life!

 

The coffee bar at church has been closed for a few weeks. Well every Sunday Beth gets a hot chocolate. Every Sunday. So she hasn't really known what to do when we get to church, and even went into the front office to make some tea one week. Then on Saturday night she asked if we could stop at Starbucks on our way to church so she could get her hot chocolate. Great idea Beth! So we drove through, got her drink, and as I pull out of the parking lot I realized we forgot to ask for soy milk. So I made a u-turn, drove through again and when we got to the window the barista said, "Weren't you just here?" "Yeah, but we forgot about the milk." She said she wasn't going to charge us and ended up giving it to Beth for free. 

 

That's about it. Enjoy your week. Til next time - 

 

A Little Quiet Around Here

Things have been quiet the last few weeks, AND I'M LOVING IT! For more than five years life has been over-the-top crazy and it's nice to have some boring days for a change.

 

I recently shared a photo of a print the girls got me for Mother's Day, and I finally got it hung today. Went to Michael's and Hobby Lobby for flowers to go with it but couldn't find the exact ones. I'll keep looking and will probably get a smaller vase and smaller flowers too. I just love it though.

I video chatted with Diana and Adelaide again this morning. Adelaide woke up with a fever so was feeling extra snuggly. She kept saying, "Hug, hug" while she squeezed Diana's neck. When Beth came upstairs Adelaide was so excited to see her and even started saying her name, "Hi Beth! Hi Beth!"

I bought a mini fridge for our quad at work. Well, actually I used my church card, but I went to the store. :)  There are 4 of us now (sometimes the desks are empty) and our fridge is leaking and has a musty odor. So I bought a bigger one - without a freezer. It'll be delivered on Monday, we can't wait!

 

My rhododendrons have a lot of blooms this year. I love looking out the front window and seeing them with the trees...

 

Not much else to share. Take care. 'Til next time -

 

It's Been 84 Years... No, No, Five. It's Been 5 Years

 Do you quote movie lines at your house? We do it a lot around here. My title is from Titanic, but you probably already knew that. 😊 Can you see 'old' Rose beginning to tell her story?

Anyway, today - May 23 is Beth's fifth anniversary working at Westgate!

She had worked at Little Caesars for 5 years folding pizza boxes, when the new owner got rid of her position. The manager lobbied for Beth, the other employees tried to keep her there, even the DART driver when he heard she was losing her job went in to speak to the manager. Nothing changed her mind. When Beth got home from work that last day she sobbed. It broke my heart.

For the next two years we waited for Beth's job coach to find her a job. She went on a few interviews but then we heard from the coach less and less. It was during this time I got the supervisor position at my job and after about a year I asked my boss if I could hire Beth. He loved the idea and she's worked there ever since. 

This was her very first day, May 23, 2019 

 

She started out cleaning our preschool two days a week: emptying the trash and vacuuming all seven classrooms. She now works one day a week because I changed the days I work, and we've hired an overnight cleaning crew. (We have a huge building and two dozen events every day. It was putting a huge strain on our custodial staff.)

Over the years she's set up chairs, vacuumed carpets, stocked shelves, and disinfected everything from bathrooms to push bars on the Sanctuary doors.

We have a Length of Service award lunch every fall, celebrating those who have worked 5, 10, 15... years. As her supervisor I'll get up and say a few things about her and she'll get a small bonus. I'm looking forward to that! 

A Big Bite, Family, and Feeling Loved

 We had our big office staff Christmas party this week. Our Executive Assistant goes above and beyond when planning events. I asked her one time how she thinks of everything and she said, "Sometimes it just comes to me in a dream." Definitely a gift from the Lord.

 

We all got our own charcuterie tray ~

 

 Lunch came after this - steak, rice, veggies, then various cakes for dessert. Each department buys a gift for the raffle then numbers are drawn and gifts are handed out, some fun, some fancy. I won a gift card to a new gourmet ice cream shop! Future date night!

 

We sang Christmas carols, there was a contest to see who could guess the number of Hershey's kisses in the jar, then we all got a container of cookies and a box of Harry and David's chocolate to take home. She always makes you feel so loved and appreciated!

Chuck, Beth and I went out for lunch recently. The Family Pancake House is one of our favorite places to eat!

We're getting ready to go see this little one...

 

She turns a year old on Sunday! Hard to believe an entire year has gone by. 

 

I'll be away from my computer for a while so I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! God bless you all this Christmas season and all year long!

Countdowwn, Turkey Toss, One of Her Favorite Things

 Hello,

 

Five days before Thanksgiving. For us the holiday is focused on our church outreach. We feed about 1200 from our community: the homeless, first responders who are on duty, immigrants, and entire families. They come to have their photos taken, enjoy a complete Thanksgiving meal, access to our clothing bank, and a fun show that includes the gospel. Plus there are more than 400 volunteers.

 

We've been prepping for months and tomorrow begins room set ups. It's a grueling week but by the weekend, I'm so grateful to have been a part of such an amazing outreach. Something our family has been a part of for more than 25 years. These are from last year...

 

 

 

 We have Translators

 We'll have our family Thanksgiving on Friday. Sharaya and Ally will come over, we'll watch our traditional after-dinner movie and play games. And we'll probably video chat with Diana and Peter. Then on Saturday...

 

 This is what I plan to do all day! 😊

 

 Beth and I got our hair cut this week. Same styles, just shorter. I suggested we take a selfie together but she didn't seem excited about that idea. So I just took one of her, then took mine when I got home. She'll talk for days about everyone who will see how different she looks, "I can show my friends on Tuesday!" "My sisters will be surprised!" She loves getting her hair cut!

 

 We had our Third Annual Turkey Toss at work last week. The Executive Assistant comes up with the most fun and crazy events for us - the goal is to see who can throw a frozen, wrapped-in-duct-tape turkey the farthest. This year there was a Lightweight division, for those of us over 55 (and there are a lot actually!) I think ours was a game hen. Anyway, there was hot chocolate... and lots of laughter!

 

 See the blue dot at the top of the yellow tree? That's the turkey!

Some of them threw 29 feet, 31 feet! It was crazy far!

 

 

I don't know if you can make out the blue chalk inside the circle. They put our initials where our throws landed. And you see the traffic cone? Right there at the starting line? That's my throw. Yep, 4 feet. I thought I would try to toss it like I was bowling but it slipped out of my hand! There were no actual prizes, just the honor of titles like Highest Toss, Farthest Toss, and mine? I got Biggest Oops! 😂 I absolutely love where I work! We have the most fun!

 I hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving. I pray no one is alone this weekend and that you get to share a meal with others. Whether it's with family, or friends or if you come to an outreach like ours, maybe with friends you haven't met yet. I'm thankful for you. You bless me more than you'll ever know. May the Lord bless you too!

This and That

 I have such a long list of things to tell you about so I'll just get right to it.

 

A month or so ago Chuck saw his dermatologist for his regular 6 month check up and on the top of his head they found what they called, 'a rough spot.' Did I already tell you this? Well anyway, they said it was basil cell carcinoma. They did a scrape biopsy and found it to be benign, thank goodness! They got it all, it's no longer an issue so we just keep watching his scalp... and praying.

 

Sharaya started back to work today, finishing up at her old position before beginning her new job.  She worked at a middle school and found out in May I think, that due to budget cuts her job was being eliminated. She was able to secure a different job in the same district (so Ally can continue at the same school she was at last year) in their transportation department. She thrived at her old position, she was so good at her job and everyone loved her! I know she's going to excel at this new one too. Her solid work ethic, creative ideas and willingness to go above and beyond what's expected of her, it won't be long before people are loving her at the new job!

 

Diana, Peter and Adelaide are coming out here the end of this month and we are so excited! Adelaide is crawling already, she's just growing so fast! I don't think I ever shared pictures of our trip to Seaside Heights at the Jersey Shore back in June. We did a little shopping, got something to eat - we actually tried fried oreos, have you ever had one? Really good, but oooh, so sweet. One was plenty! It was warm out, but it was so pretty there.

 

 

There's more to tell you but it's time to go fix dinner. I hope you're all having a great summer. Even though it seems to be flying by!