Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Twenty Twenty

A whole new year ahead of us.
Unwritten chapters of our lives.
I'm excited to see what the Lord has in store!
I pray the blessings of the Lord rest on you this year!



Monday, December 23, 2019

"Well ya comin?" ... "Why, to The North Pole of Course!"

Chuck and Beth got Allie tickets to the Polar Express for her birthday and we took her last week.

We picked Allie up from school and then started the two and a half hour drive down to Mount Rainier. It was dark by the time we got there and it was so cold outside! But we only had a wait a few minutes before it was time to board the train.




We got golden tickets that the attendants punched for us
They danced in the aisles with hot chocolate on their trays!
They read the book over the intercom while showing the pictures
We got cookies and yummy hot chocolate






And before we knew it, we were at the North Pole!





And you'll never guess who got on the train with us!!



He gave everyone a jingle bell from his sleigh!


It was a magical night!

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! 

Friday, December 20, 2019

I Have A Question For You

Lately I've noticed that when I get on my blog for the very first time each day, the background shows up. But every time after that it doesn't. It's just white. It doesn't matter if I click on the View Blog link (I have Blogger) on the Design page or if I close out of it and re-open it, it still always comes up with a white background.

When you click on my blog, do you see the background? Or is it white around the Header Photo? It shouldn't be just white... and I'm trying to figure out where my Background went! 😕

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Tea, Chocolate and A Good Night's Sleep

 Reasons to be thankful:

A fun Christmas party at work
Christmas bonuses
Going to Tea with Allie
Getting the day after Christmas off from work
Diana arrives on Saturday!!
Shopping at the mall and it wasn't very crowded
Finding a great parking spot
Sleeping for 11 hours!
The Polar Express
Taking a day to just sit on the couch and watch TV
It's almost Winter Solstice!
Chocolate Truffles

I'm linking up with Rebecca Jo at Knit By God's Hand for Thankful Thursday

What are you thankful for today?

Saturday, December 14, 2019

"Guess Where I Am?"

Diana sent us that text last weekend.

Peter had some work to do in Phoenix AZ and asked her if she wanted to tag along and stop at Disneyland on their way. 

That was an easy one to answer!

They flew over the Grand Canyon, wow!


Once they got to Disneyland they couldn't wait to see Galaxy's Edge!




 She said the Millennium Falcon ride was "unlike any ride I've been on. There were live controls by our stations though the action was on a screen through the windshield and we were buckled! Six people are in a spaceship and two people control the steering, two control the weapons and two are engineers. And if you mess up, you really mess up!" 

I'd love to go inside the Millennium Falcon but I'm not sure I'd enjoy the ride!

Cinderella's Castle
 


It's a Small World



Have you ever been to Disneyland?
Have you ever been there when it's decorated for Christmas? 

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Scarring Alopecia

(Beth just came upstairs holding her milk carton, "I got buttermilk!" We could tell she wasn't happy! She put some in her tea and she said it made it "chunky." Eeewwww! I put some of our milk into a mason jar and she took that back downstairs. She's now making herself a new cup of tea!)

On Monday she had a doctor's appointment for her alopecia. Our family doctor diagnosed it a few years ago but the meds weren't helping so we went back and she thought maybe it was an iron deficiency but that hasn't helped. She sent us to a dermatologist and he says it's definitely scarring alopecia. He said the part of her scalp that is already bald cannot be reversed but the new meds should slow the progression in the rest of it. Thankfully pulling the top of her hair back in a small pony tail hides it. Of course the medicine the dermatologist prescribed wasn't covered by her insurance so they had to find another one that they would pay for. I'll be picking that up tomorrow.

 Our view from the waiting area


The doctor had me take photos while he measured the area. We'll go back again in February to check it's progression.

 

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Trying New Things

All Aboard hosted a private showing of Frozen 2 tonight. Beth needed to transfer buses to get to the theater so last night we drove her to the transit station and explained exactly what would happen. Then I sent her a text with a picture of the buses, "DART will pick you up at home, Para Transit will drop you off at the theater..."



She did great! She sent me a text when she got to the theater and even sent us this picture:


Then she texted when she got home and said she loved the movie! This was the first time she's had to transfer buses and thankfully she waits on one bus until the other bus arrives so she was never left alone but this morning she did say she was nervous. But she did fine!

We drove around last night and looked at Christmas lights. There were so many cute little characters from tv shows and movies... 'Christmas lights' sure have changed a lot from when I was a kid!





I mentioned a few posts ago that we were going to make some changes with my desk at work. I've found trying to run my department while helping to run the front office isn't working. I just don't have time to do both. My boss wants me to remain centrally located (as opposed to putting me down on the first floor) So yesterday we put a wall up by my desk. We'll try this and see how it goes. 

My desk is in the back. This is what it looked like before:


And after we put up a taller wall:


I used to see the receptionists desk and out to the office area where the guests would come in. Plus through the window and down the hall...



But now I'm hidden behind the wall. I won't be answering the phones as much and even though it'll take some getting used to I'm hoping it gives me more time to be out and about helping my crew and getting things done throughout the building. 



And speaking of getting things done, we were setting up for a Senior Adults Christmas Party yesterday and Beth was helping to set out all the chairs when I looked up and saw her sitting with some of the ladies folding napkins. She's normally very shy but she just sat right down and began folding! She loves doing this kind of thing, being creative and working with her hands.



What about you? Are you creative? Do you make things or paint or draw...?

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Lights, Pictures and Hope



Linking up with Knit By God's Hand

 
I have so many things to be thankful for:

Our washing machine continues to work well
Chuck is doing well and is losing weight like crazy!
We've had quite a few days of dry weather
Hot chocolate with marshmallows!
Sending and receiving Christmas cards
Beautiful twinkling lights
Quiet days at work
Beautiful sunsets
Christmas pictures of when the girls were young
The anticipation of snowfall!
(We're not expecting any, but I'm hopeful!)

I hope you're having a wonderful week!

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Thanksgiving, Double Digits and Julie Andrews

Thanksgiving kicked my butt this year. 

These are pictures from last year (I didn't have time to take many this year) to give you an idea of what the Thanksgiving Outreach at our church looks like.

This is our gym, we call it The Commons, ready for our guests


 The first seating. 
When they're done we clean and re-set the tables and do it again. And then again.


In years past I've lead the Buser and Server teams, overseeing the Commons. Or the Condiment team, putting the rolls, black olives and pickles on all the tables then bringing out the pumpkin pie after dinner. But now that I'm the Custodial Supervisor at church, I lead the Custodial team this year.

I went into it thinking, "So we empty trash for a few hours. How hard can this be?" Oh my word, I had no idea just how MUCH trash we'd need to empty. And if we didn't get to it soon enough how heavy it would be to lift out of the can. And how much heavier it would get as we carried it out of the building and out to the parking lot. And how it would be even heavier as we tried to toss it up and into the dumpster! (I eventually got smart and went downstairs to grab our big rolling trash bin so we could fill it and didn't have to carry them out of the building.)




And the trash in the Commons would fill up within seconds. Not exaggerating!! Plus there were trash cans in the Reception area at the other end of the building. And in the childcare area downstairs. Plus cleaning and restocking the bathrooms. I'd clean one sink, move to another and someone would come in and immediately use the sink I just cleaned. I can't tell you how many times I'd be in the middle of cleaning and 15 people would walk in.

I had a few volunteers help in the morning but for the most part it was just me and Beth. She would go into our Women's Cry Room whenever there would be a break and it didn't take her long to fall asleep! It was a very long and exhausting day!

  
 
And when we got home... no wonder my feet hurt!


Last month I ended up buying Julie Andrews new book and I'm loving it! It's funny and surprising... I'm only about a third of the way through it but I highly recommend it!



Today we celebrated Allie's 10th birthday! Sharaya always does a phenomenal job on decorating and themes... she's really gifted in this area! It was a Winter Wonderland theme and there were so many fun elements to it. All the kids got to make gingerbread houses, there were snowflakes and snow and nutcrackers, it was amazing!






And look at this cake! Her friend Jen from Tasty Spoons Bakery made it and all of her cakes are stunning!










Happy Birthday Allie!