Scatterbrained

The first thing I thought when I woke up this morning was, "Oh my gosh, the blog!!" I just haven't had time/energy to write lately. Let alone read and comment on your blogs, I'm so sorry!

My sister and her granddaughter should be here sometime in the next day or two. They're driving up from California and even though they're texting and letting us know when they reach their destinations for the night they aren't quite sure when they'll arrive. I spent today cleaning bathrooms, preparing the guest room, I cleaned the couch, caught up on laundry, just all those things you do when you're having people stay at your house.

Chuck, Beth and I have been walking on the Interurban Trail that runs along I 5 north of Seattle. 

(I've been writing and deleting for about 10 minutes now. Nothing sounds right or I don't like the sentence structure or the sentence doesn't make sense, my brain has been so scattered lately.) Sigh...

 The wildflowers are so pretty along this trail

After a while Beth usually ends up walking behind us a little, her legs are shorter and she tires easier but one time she just took off! She loves to check the step count on her phone!

 

This week just Chuck and I went and except for the underpass, this part of the trail was pretty straightforward. One long straight path.

We both thought this picture looked like a wall that's been painted to look like a road or path to fool people!

My brain is in a fog so I'm going to stop here. I hope you're all doing well today.

An Update on Chuck

Chuck had his second infusion today. It started with a visit to the dermatologist first thing this morning and he counted 13 nodules (up from 8 last time we were there) and another tumor behind his ear.

Plus he found a spot that looks suspiciously like basal cell carcinoma so he did a biopsy. He said it's very mild, it won't spread and if it is cancerous they'll be able to get it all with surgery. He was very casual about it. We should get those results in about a week.

But... all of this is expected because the medication takes a few weeks to really begin to work. It's natural for the cancer to grow during that time.

 The view from the waiting room.

We left for a few hours (bought a new microwave and Chuck got a new Smart watch) then we stopped at Lake Washington for a few minutes before heading back for more appointments.

The nurse practitioner felt so bad that we had to come back and she told us that it's perfectly okay to ask the scheduler to try and get all the appointments around the same time. 

They did a blood draw and we found out that everything came back normal. Everything! That's a direct answer to prayer!

Next they put in the IV line, then we headed to the back for the infusion. He didn't get a lot of sleep last night so he dozed off during the procedure. (He worked until 1am.) We're thankful they got us in early. We actually left there before the time of our original appointment! So now we wait and watch for this cancer to shrink!

 

Reminiscing

Today was Father's Day, as you all know, and this is the first one without my dad.

We didn't always have the best relationship, in fact when Chuck and I got engaged we hadn't spoken in a few years and I wasn't even sure I wanted him at the wedding let alone to walk me down the aisle. When I finally got up the courage to tell him I was getting married... well actually, I don't even remember making the call. But he ended up walking me down the aisle after all. Things have been good since ever since.

Except for a couple of years, he's lived in California his whole life and I've been in Seattle for more than 30 years so even though I didn't spend Father's Day with him I would always send a card and I would call him.

He often called me Sweetie and was always, always glad to hear from me. I'd ask him how he was doing and he'd tell me about his latest motorcycle ride or fishing with his nephew. In his later years he'd tell me about his newest injury or something he and my sister had done together.

His mom's family has held a large reunion for many years and my dad went back to Iowa for a few of them. Two years ago Chuck, Beth and I drove through there and met some of his cousins, who gave me a copy of a huge notebook of our family history. It's a book they've been creating for decades.

My grandma moved from Iowa to California when she got married so there is very little about her and our family in it. This year we're able to go to the reunion so I'm creating pages for the book. Pages of my grandma and grandpa, (he died before I was born) my dad and his little brother. Their children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and the births, marriages, and deaths.

My grandma

Grandpa and Grandma

Grandma and Grandpa with my dad

 

 With my dad's little brother

My dad and his mom

It's going to be bittersweet being at the reunion but I'm excited to learn more about my grandma and her family. 

Hug your dad if you have a chance. Tell him how much he means to you. Share a fun memory you have of him, a time he made you smile. 

There's nothing like the relationship between a daughter and her dad.

Chuck and our girls

Thankful Thursday - So Grateful

 

Linking up with Rebecca Jo

We took a walk yesterday and I can honestly say I had a heart of gratitude. I need more practice in this area and I really think these posts are helping. I'm always on the look out for things to post, so thank you Rebecca Jo! I'm thankful for you.

Things I'm thankful for this week:

Birds perched on a wire

Wildflowers

Fresh cut grass

Low-flying airplanes

Unexpected visits from family

Sweet and sour chicken

Coconut cream pie

Photos of great-grandparents

Planning vacations

Seeing results of yard work

Beautiful sunsets

Chuck continues to feel well

I hope you've had a lot to be thankful for this week!

He Tried To Get Breakfast To Go

Chuck went back to work last Thursday. He went from not working at all for 2 months, straight into 13 hour days! Two good things though: 1. he's got the stamina to do it and 2. he's racked up enough overtime this week alone to be able to take a short, last minute vacation the first part of August!

  

Taken in 2019  

I officially started back to work last Thursday as well but today the entire staff was there. We had a staff meeting to talk about what things were going to look like the next few weeks and we were sitting so far apart from each other our pastor had to use a microphone! The new normal for 2020.

I looked out the window the other day and saw something laying in the driveway.

Diana used to have a Westie and that's kind of what it reminded me of but when I got closer I could see it was a bird, it looked like a seagull. It was big so I called the Department of Fish and Wildlife but it was the weekend so I was only able to leave a message. 

Then yesterday morning I'm sitting at the table and I hear a huge flock of crows just making the loudest noise, there must have been a dozen or more and I jumped up thinking they were all fighting over the bird.

Instead I saw this:

A bald eagle had picked it up and was trying to fly away with it! The crows all attacked the eagle so it dropped the bird and flew directly toward my window!  

We've lived in this house more than 19 years and this is only the 2nd time I've seen an eagle this close! I kept watching to see if it would come back but it never did. At least not then. When I got up this morning the bird was gone!

We had our first official church service this weekend. We could have 50 in the Sanctuary and 100 outside so the custodians and I worked on Friday to prep everything and get it all ready to take outside on Sunday morning. We had racks of folding chairs and masks and disinfecting wipes and kleenex and trash cans... there was a long list of things we had to comply with. But we did it and it was so good to be back together. Although I use the word 'together' somewhat loosely.

I can't wait for the day when we're ALL in the Sanctuary!

So what are you looking forward to the most once this social distancing ends?

Have you ever seen wildlife up close?

Saturday Snippets - Laughing

We've laughed harder in the last few weeks than we have in a long time. I thought I'd share of few of them with you but I honestly can't tell you why we were laughing in most of them!

This is an old one of Allie but it's one of my favorites!

 

 This is been a wild few weeks (months!) but Diana has gone back home and Chuck and I are both back at work. It's been fun to remember all the joyful times we've had recently. 

I hope you've had some too!

Thankful Thursday - Campfires, Gardening and Thumper

It's Thankful Thursday hosted by Knit By God's Hand!

Things I'm thankful for this week:

Family

Laughter

Eating at a restaurant!

Going for walks

Chuck feeling well enough to go back to work

Roasting marshmellows

Wild bunnies

The Happy Birthday song

Friends

Fresh flowers

S'mores

Seeing coworkers again

Sightseeing in your own city

 

  So, what are you thankful for this week?

  

It's Going To Take Some Getting Used To

I'm writing this at 11:30pm and am wondering where the day went.

 I went into work for a few hours this morning, then Chuck and I went to a post-op appointment with the surgeon. She said the incision is healing well and she won't need to see him again.

On our way home we stopped at Kerry Park overlooking Seattle.  It's just a small park in between a few houses but the view is amazing!

We came home, I did some laundry, had dinner and then I made some phone calls for work. The girls got here and had all the stuff for s'mores so they built a fire and we sat outside for a while.

Then we came inside and played the rowdiest game of Mexican Train ever!! Sharaya put on Les Miserables and the three of them sang At. The. Top. Of. Their. Lungs. while we played!

You start the game by 'shuffling' the dominoes, moving them around and around to mix them up. Then you match the dots and build your 'train'. At the end of each round you count up your points and then turn the dominoes over to begin again. They started 'fighting' over them, trying to grab as many as they could, we were laughing so hard! When it was over Sharaya quoted the movie Hook, "That was a great game!"

And now it's after midnight and I have to get up and go to work in the morning. Ugh. I've really enjoyed this time off and going back to work every day is going to take some getting used to! 

I hope you all have a wonderful day!