A No Show, A Hospital Run, and Four This Year

Work has kept me on my toes lately. We had water baptisms on Sunday and I knew the tank had been emptied and cleaned so I checked it today and saw the covers hadn't been put over the top. They're 4 large pieces of wood covered in carpet and they're very heavy. I called one of the custodians and we tried to figure them out, it was like a jigsaw puzzle.

When we were just about done with that I got a call on the radio that there was a situation in one of the women's bathrooms. I left the custodian to finish with the tank and I found another custodian had been cleaning the bathroom sinks when one of our huge mirrors fell forward and landed on her. Thankfully she wasn't hurt and it didn't break, it just kind of slowly leaned forward and she braced it. I went to the maintenance office, grabbed some duct tape and MacGyvered it! While doing that, I got another call saying my delivery had arrived so I went upstairs, let the driver into our storage area, signed the invoice... it was just non-stop today. 

I hired a new custodian last week and he was due to start yesterday at 2:00. He never showed. I texted him at 2:30 telling him I was a little surprised that he didn't even show up to his first day at a new job. I asked him if he was available today and he said yes, but gave no explanation as to why he didn't show up. I was trying to show him some grace and mercy. He called me this morning and we talked for a few minutes about the paperwork and his uniform. "Sounds good. See you at 2:00." But again he didn't show! At 2:30 I called his cell and it went straight to voicemail. I left a message and then waited. Finally at 2:45 I texted again only this time it was to tell him the job wasn't going to work out and he wouldn't be working here. So now it's back to square one looking for a new employee. Frustrating.

Right after I got home today I got a call from a friend who needed a ride home from the hospital. Actually the call was from his late wife's daughter, who happens to be his Power of Attorney but lives out of town. His procedure ended up taking longer than expected and all the drivers from his assisted living place had gone home. What?! Why were they allowed to leave when one of their residents was still at the hospital? I just didn't understand that! Anyway, I hopped in my car and drove up to get him. Thankfully it's only 5-10 minutes from my house. I took him home and a couple nurses came with his electric chair and took him on up to his room. Would they have left him at the hospital? I'm glad I was available! 

Every few days I check the bird's nest in the wreath and today...

There's 4 tiny eggs! This is so fun! I believe the birds are called Junko. They're a type of Sparrow. I saw the mommy bird in the nest so I stuck my arm out the front door so I wouldn't scare her and got this picture:

She's keeping them safe and warm! 

I hope you're all doing well and enjoying Spring. It's hard to believe May is right around the corner!

I Think the Crows Read My Blog

Beth had another dentist appointment this week. She's got to have a total of 3 root canals plus a crown. This was her second visit for all of this work and I'm nervous for her, but she's perfectly fine with it. The endodontist keeps talking about how good she is as a patient. We got there early and she fell asleep in the waiting room.

 

I made a few more greeting cards. I really love doing this, it takes me out of my routine and I get to be creative. It really is therapeutic.

In my last post I wrote about how the crows were dive bombing this poor hawk. I really think the crows are the bullies of the bird world! Well, Beth and I ran some errands after her dentist appointment and a crow pooped on me!! We were walking out of Safeway and had just cleared the roof when... splat!! It was like he was waiting for me! And it's a brand new sweater, the first time I'd ever worn it!

 

I cleaned it with cold water before throwing it in the wash. Thankfully it all came out and it looks like new again. 

Have you ever had a bird poop on you?

What do you do to relax or get out of a rut?

Dive Bombing in the Sunshine

Whenever I get a full day at home it's a good day and I got two days at home this week! Our weather has been so nice, this kind of forecast doesn't happen very often around here!

I got home from work on Friday and actually went out to the backyard to watch a plane fly overhead. While I was searching the sky I noticed a crow dive bombing another bird. You can see the little white blob on the branch just to the left of the crow.

After a few minutes I see a large hawk fly out of the tree and into a different group of trees! It was incredible to see this amazing bird flying right above me!

Then the crows started dive bombing it again! After about 10 minutes I realized my neck was getting sore so I went in. You never know what you might see out in God's creation!

I was able to get a little yard work done this weekend. The back of my legs are SO sore from stretching while I was pulling weeds but it is looking so good. I love doing work when you can actually see the results!

And guess who's back? I started noticing twigs and grass hanging out of our wreath a few days ago. It's been three years since they built a nest on our porch and I'm excited to watch them again!

Well that's about it around here. Back to work tomorrow. I'm thankful for the weather this week! It's time to bring out the spring / summer clothes!

Do you have birds / bird feeders in your yard?

Do you create a moat around your plants to catch the water?

This and That

We had a different Easter this year. Just me, Chuck and Beth. There were 3 services at church and I had to be there to disinfect after each one. Chuck and Beth helped this time too. Then we went out to breakfast and spent the rest of the day at home, watching movies and relaxing.

We recently bought some new blinds for our sliding door and the two big windows in the living room. They'll be delivered and then Lowes will come out and install them. These are the ones we got for the windows. The door will have vertical blinds... I'm so excited!!

Sharaya and Ally went to San Diego last weekend. They drove down with some friends and they drove straight through! It's 22 hours of driving, if I've remembered right. Chuck and I did that a few times but I remember the last time we did it. It was just too hard to keep our eyes open, too hard on our bodies without the rest we needed... oh to be young again! :)

Well anyway, Sharaya and Ally have had a blast down there! The resort they're staying at has a small water park along with the pool; they've been to the zoo, Balboa Park, the beach, they kayaked around La Jolla caves and even rode The Giant Dipper at Belmont Park!

This was built in 1925 and restored in 1993

 

Diana and Peter went camping over Easter weekend. I forgot to ask her where they went but she said they had fun! They're adjusting some wedding plans due to covid travel restrictions and make it easier for some family members to attend. I asked her if she's been shopping for dresses and she said no, but she did bring two wedding magazines on their camping trip. 😄

Well that's about it from our house. I'm getting a slow start on the yard work this year. We get a few days of rain, then sun. Then rain... I hope you're all having a wonderful start to spring!

Have you ever been camping?

Do you like roller coasters?

We'd Been Waiting Since November!

Some of you had asked what Beth was drinking in my Frightening Part post. She doesn't like coffee so when we go to Starbucks she'll either get a hot chocolate or a Strawberry Frappuccino. It's just ice, milk and strawberries. No coffee, more like a shake. I think some frappuccinos have coffee in them but not the strawberry one. I'm not a coffee drinker either so these are a good alternative. They're SO good!

Last Saturday Ally and I went to The Museum of Flight just south of Seattle. We were supposed to go back in November but they closed down just 2 days before our scheduled day due to an uptick in covid cases. So we were so excited on the drive down! I've always wanted to see the inside of an air traffic control tower and I didn't know there was one that you could go into there! Ally was so anxious to show it to me! We got inside, they took our temp, we got our wrist bands, made our way up the stairs... and it was closed. Due to covid I guess, too small of a room? I don't know. We were so bummed. There was one area of the museum that had a full sized 747 in it, a Concorde, Air Force One... so many amazing planes but somehow we ended up missing it. We never did see them so I told her we'll just have to come back!

We did see the Great Gallery, the Space Gallery, the WWII area and of course bought a few things in the gift shop! 

She's looking at a model of an aircraft carrier

This is the Great Gallery

There are so many planes you can't get them all in one shot. These are actual, full-sized planes. This room is huge.

 We walked across the sky bridge to the Space Gallery

Here we're standing in the open cargo bay of a Space Shuttle

 

I think the Space Gallery was our favorite part! 

I do love hanging out with this girl!

After More Than 4 Years, It Finally Happened

 Diana sent us this picture the other day:

 "Well, it's official!!"

 AHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Oh my gosh my baby girl is getting married!!!

He proposed on the rooftop of the Marriott Pulse Hotel with a 360 degree view of Boston! So romantic!

They've been dating for over 4 years. While they were here in December Peter asked for Chuck's blessing and of course Chuck said yes! We knew it was going to happen, just didn't know when!

So now they're planning a September wedding.

This is SO exciting!!

Reservations

I don't know if you're like me but I go through seasons, short stages really, of having so much to write about and every day I can't wait to get on here and write! And then other times where I go weeks of not knowing what to write about and not even wanting to turn the computer on... I'm in the latter right now.

Well, what's been happening around here?

I got a covid test this week. I was around someone who was around someone who ended up testing positive. Then the person I was around tested positive so I decided to just get one. I didn't have any symptoms so I wasn't too surprised when it came back negative. But it feels good to know. 

I haven't had the vaccine yet. Honestly I'm a little hesitant. I'm not a big medicine taker. My mom and sisters both take (took) copious amounts of prescription meds and I saw the problems it caused. At one point in her life my mom was on, I think 19 medications. One night I flew down to stay with her because they didn't think she was going to make it through the night. She was delirious and hallucinating. Her doctor told us to just stop all of her meds. If this was the end it wouldn't matter anyway. Wouldn't you know, my mom woke up the next morning perfectly fine! I was shocked to see her sitting up in bed, perfectly okay. So I'm a little concerned about how these vaccines are going to affect people. IF they're going to affect people. What's gonna happen 6 months from now, a year from now. I kind of want to wait and see how people react to it. I'm not against it at all, I'm just... curious.

Let's see... I got my hair cut. I can't tell if it's too short for my taste or if it's just a shock because it was so long before!

 Before (This is natural. It gets kind of frizzy.)

After (Blow dried and straightened.)

 

Umm, what else? Ally and I are going to the Museum of Flight tomorrow! I bought tickets for us back in November but everything shut down a second time and they just refunded my money. So when they opened up again I bought them right away. We're ready to go! I'm so excited! 

Have you had the vaccine? 

Are you have reservations about taking it?

Where are you excited to go that you haven't been in a while?

WDSD - Still Growing and Learning

 Today is World Down Syndrome Day

Most people have 2 copies each of their 46 chromosomes.

People who have Down Syndrome have 3 copies of the 21st chromosome. So we now celebrate them on March 21st. Or 3/21

It was officially recognized in 2012 so for most of Beth's life it didn't even exist. We did 'a thing' for it a few years ago but mostly the day goes by without much fanfare.

But this year, Beth woke up, came upstairs and announced, "Today is my day!"

I got a text the other day telling us that Top Pot Donuts was selling donuts to celebrate people with Down Syndrome!

 Sweet! Literally!

A friend at church came up to me, grabbed my arm and said she just HAD to tell me... Beth had started a conversation with her. Just out of the blue. If you know Beth you know this is completely out of character. For those of you that don't know her very well, this is completely out of character! I didn't even know that Beth knew her. A said that Beth told her it was Down Syndrome Day and proceeded to tell her about the donuts, of how her grandmother had died... I was shocked! So was she! She said it was the first time Beth had ever talked to her besides saying a rather quiet "Hi" as she walked by.

And A was the second person this week to say Beth had just randomly started talking to them. 

It does my heart good to hear stories like this. To know she's still growing and learning and doing things that are hard.

We went out to lunch with Sharaya and Ally and afterward we headed out to get our donuts, only to find out the distribution center had a power outage last night. The store only got about 3 - 4 donuts and they were completely out. 

Well bummer.

From the back seat Beth says, "We could get cake or something."

So we stopped at QFC and bought some slices of cake that we split between the 5 of us. This 36 year old woman who sometimes forces herself to do hard things, who knows almost every musical by heart, who snorts when she laughs and who loves her family more than anything else on earth, was celebrated today.

 It's a journey we never would have chosen but it's one we wouldn't trade for anything in the world!

 Happy World Down Syndrome Day Beth!