Back And Forth

We took the ferry over to Kingston on Sunday and the day was close to perfect. We had such a great time. 

We walked out to the ferry and headed to the front of the boat.

Sharaya said this could be our band's album cover. 😎

I don't know any of these people, I just wanted a picture of our ferry, the Walla Walla. Chuck told me that he saw the blonde in the black shirt and thought it was Diana! But, nope. She's still in Philadelphia.

 

Okay, so not everyone went to the front. A couple of people wanted to sit inside. Alone. So they could make out. Yep!! They were willing to pose for a picture though.

We got off the ferry in Kingston and walked the 1/4 mile to the famous J'amie Les Crepes. This place has the best crepes and ice cream and they're always packed.

 

After we ate, it was time to head back. Down the sidewalk and back to the ferry.

 

We had to wait a few while they emptied and quickly cleaned the ferry, then we were able to board. 

It's a 30 minute ride and the scenery is absolutely gorgeous. To the south you can see Mount Rainier and the city of Seattle. To the North you see Mount Baker. Unfortunately they're so far away, the cell phone camera usually doesn't pick it up.

You can barely see Mount Rainier and those tiny dark rectangles just to the left of the mountain are downtown Seattle!

Before we knew it we were pulling back into Edmonds. We're so blessed to live in such a beautiful city. 

What did you do on Sunday? I hope you all had a great weekend!

Last Saturday While Beth Was At Work...

Last Saturday while Beth was at work...

Chuck and I moved her furniture downstairs. 

When she got home she walked into her old room and just stopped. I followed her downstairs and she was just beaming! 

She immediately began hanging up her crosses and her calendar. She plugged in her nightlight and set her alarm. 

She did all those things that make the place exclusively hers.

 

She's so glad to be back in her own apartment!

It Was Like She Was Right There

Some friends and I were talking at work this past week and while one of them spoke, I got so excited because I wanted to tell them that Diana had come over... but then I caught myself. (One of the few times I actually thought before I spoke.) 😇

What actually happened was Sharaya came over and we were gonna look at some pictures (old negatives) she had just put on CD's and while she was here, she FaceTimed Diana. The three of us (Chuck and Beth were both at work) sat at the table 'together' and looked at photos! We talked and laughed and reminisced... it was so much fun! I felt like I had actually spent the day with the two of them. 

These are a few of the pics we were looking at:

They're from our East Coast trip back in 2004. Man that was fun! Flew into New York, then rented a van and drove from Massachusetts to Florida, sightseeing all the way!

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My back continues to improve every day. Mornings are the worst because my muscles and spine are so stiff and it takes me a while to get out of bed. The first thing I do is fix a cup of tea and put the electric heating pad on my back. It only takes a half hour or so for everything to relax and then I'm fine the rest of the day. The good thing is I haven't had any more pain. As long as I don't over do it.

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We're making progress on Beth's apartment. Today I took her microwave downstairs and just cleaned up a few things. She has a bookshelf in the upstairs bedroom and one downstairs so she's been transferring some of that. Plus clothes from her closet, her movies, books...

Her and Nick keep making plans for him to come over but it just hasn't worked out. She keeps putting it on the calendar, then crossing it out. We're hoping we'll have her all moved in by next weekend! Then he can come over and see her 'new' place.

 

Do any of you have a favorite FaceTime story? 

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Have You Ever Had A Reason To Sleep Sitting Up?

We still haven't moved Beth downstairs to her apartment. I recently spent a lot of time on my feet at work, then came home and painted the daylight basement.

My back was not happy.

(I was hit by a car when I was 12 and injured my spine.)

I've been in so much pain lately, not able to sit, stand, walk, lie down. The pain has been excruciating. 

It started about 3 weeks ago and I went to the doctor and was told that my spine is very stiff and the surrounding muscles are "white knuckled" they're so tight. I'm now seeing a physical therapist and am using heating pads to relax the muscles.

I've spent the last two weeks trying to sleep sitting up on the couch. When I couldn't sit up on the couch any more, I'd try sitting up in Chuck's recliner. Chuck even brought in one of our lawn chairs to see if that was any better. It helped temporarily.

I haven't been able to move without intense pain. I've had back pain my entire life but it usually subsides after 2 or 3 days but we're going on three weeks now. And this has been the worst back pain I've ever had. 

Chuck's been doing the cooking and grocery shopping and Beth's been doing a few extra chores.

Three weeks!

But last night I think I turned a corner. I was able to sleep in our bed and woke up without too much pain! I'll continue to see the physical therapist for a few more weeks but I think I'm on the mend. Hallelujah! 

It Works Every Time!

We've taken more than 35 road trips to San Diego over the last 28 years.

We would leave Seattle very early in the morning, sometimes the girls would still be in their pajamas, Chuck and I would fill our travel mugs with hot tea or coffee and we'd head out before the sun came up.

We'd drive from Seattle to Redding, California the first day, then from Redding to San Diego the next. That equals out to about 10 hours of driving each day.

We would stay at a hotel that served breakfast and that would save us money and time. We'd all go down to eat together, then after breakfast Chuck would take the van to fill it with gas while the girls and I would go back to the room to brush our teeth, braid hair, repack suitcases and check under the beds for lost toys.

After a while on the road, it would be time for lunch so we'd try to find a McDonalds that had a play place.

(Thanks Google.)

 Chuck or I would stand in line to order lunch for just the two of us while the other one took the girls right to the play area. They would play and play while we ate our lunch.

"Mom, look at me!" "Dad, watch this!" We were both able to focus on them while we casually ate, sort of like a date. Sort of. 😉

They would eventually come over, hot, sweaty and tired and we'd tell them, "Only 10 more minutes!" and they'd laugh and dash back out to play some more.

When it was finally time to go, I'd take them to use the bathroom and wash and wash our hands while Chuck ordered their lunch. Fries, chicken nuggets, apple slices, no wait. They didn't have apple slices back then. Well, we only got finger foods that wouldn't make too much of a mess in the car, then we get them all buckled in and hand them their lunch.

After playing hard and having a full tummy, they would read or quietly play and eventually...

  It worked every time!