Turkey Toss, 70, and No Surprise About the Winner

Sorry it's been so long. I've been thinking about you and hope you had a great Thanksgiving.

Last Monday through Thursday I worked 40 hours and walked more than 70,000 steps preparing for our Thanksgiving Outreach. We served 850 people on Thanksgiving Day! A delicious meal, great entertainment, family photos, games, prizes, then those that wanted to could go upstairs to our clothing bank. And everything throughout the day was free. Every year I'm a little more sore at the end of the week, but it really is a privilege to serve our community.

 

A few weeks ago our office manager decided to do a turkey toss. We all went out to the south parking lot and... tossed a turkey! I tried to hide in the back but I was spotted and called to the front. 😁 It was fun though! It was definitely the topic of conversation for the day!

This is me. Gotta love my good form! 😂

 

This was Diana and Peter's first Thanksgiving with us and he brined the turkey. We'd never had it that way but it was really good. The white meat was juicy and tender, like it was falling off the bone. Did you ever brine a turkey? Or eat one? We had all the usual food: green bean casserole, dressing, rolls, Sharaya made the mashed potatoes... for dessert I made an ice box pie and Diana and Peter brought a pumpkin cheesecake. That's something else we'd never had before. 

Then we played Mexican Train. Sharaya won. Again. She wins a lot and we always take the opportunity to tease her about it!

We ate way too much and laughed too hard! Exactly like time with family should be. I hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!

Surprised by a Chicken

 I walked into the main storage room at work last week and this greeted me!

Just hanging out by the bleach and the vacuum cleaner bags.

I've asked some of the custodians where it came from but they don't know. We don't know who put it there but it sure puts a smile on my face every time I see it!

We'll be at church on Thursday, helping with our community Thanksgiving outreach. Then our family will have Thanksgiving on Saturday.

I hope you have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Six Month Scan

It's been 6 months since Chuck's last scan, when he was declared cancer free. He feels great and all the side effects from the immunotherapy have disappeared.

He'll be getting these scans every six months for a while so we headed downtown early this morning.

 

We had a few hours between the scan and when we would get the results so he made a different appointment for work since we were already down there. We did a lot of sitting! But we got back to Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and met with his doctor. Bottom line... 

He's still cancer free!!!! 

All of his organs look good, his blood counts are all normal... what a huge relief! The Lord has been so good to us!

Pine Needles, Cozy, and Laughter

I hope you're all having a good weekend. We've got a break in the rain today so we've been cleaning pine needles - millions of pine needles! - off the roof, the storm drains, the driveway...

Almost done!

 

We went over to Diana and Peter's last night and played Chronology. We laughed so hard! Just over the most random things! Laughter really is a good medicine!

I'm home today. The first Saturday in many weeks that I'm not at work. It feels good to just be at home. The rain is supposed to begin again this evening and I plan to be on the couch with the fireplace going and eggnog in my Christmas mug. My house is still decorated for fall but come on, it's not too early for Christmas mugs is it?  😊

Alerts! Peace, and So Grateful

At work yesterday around noon we started getting alerts on our phones about a tornado near us! What?!? This is Seattle! But on the peninsula about 30 miles to the west of us, there was a sighting! We kept track of it but never took any action. A while later they canceled the alert. It sure woke us up though! The weather's been so stormy lately and at 1:15, we lost power. No computers, no printers, we all just hung out in the hallways and offices that had windows. An hour later one of the pastors told us we could all go home. We're at our desks getting our things and wouldn't you know it, the power came back on! We spent the rest of the day talking about how close we were to having the afternoon off! 

I'm still working 6 days a week so I try to keep Wednesdays my own. Today I worked on some greeting cards, the first time in almost a year. I pulled up YouTube on my phone and listened to some quiet worship music while I made them. It was so peaceful.

 

I worked around the house this morning and then took some chairs out to the garage. While I was out there I found all my Christmas mugs! I brought them in and washed them, then had some eggnog and watched a Christmas movie!

I've been thinking of my dad this week. He was on the USS Dixie during WW II and repaired the giant cranes onboard the ship.

 

I'm thankful for all the men and women who have served this great country for centuries. And for all those who are serving today, thank you. May God bless you and your families, and keep you safe.

With Friends Like That...!

Two days after Diana and Peter's reception, we loaded up a Penske truck and moved them across the country. 

We packed up the last few things from Diana's house and Peter came with the truck. His parents arrived and about the time we started hauling things out to the truck... it began to pour!!

I spotted Diana waiting in the car hoping it would slow down before she ran back to the house!

 And about the time we finished, the rain let up. Ahh, life. 😊

 

We all went out for brunch and then the 5 of us headed west. But I want to tell you about a site we saw just outside of Bozeman, Montana. They were doing some construction on the highway, not much, most were just getting off the highway and getting right back on again. But for some reason Google maps took us on this 5 mile detour. 

We're cruising along, trying to enjoy the sights when a pick up pulled out in front of us. We could tell they were locals and we drove along for a few minutes when all of the sudden...

 

This massive dog pops up from the bed of the truck! We couldn't even tell he was back there until he stood up. He was so big and was moving around the back... then we see this little dog pop up on the left side of the truck. I couldn't tell you what kind it was, a terrier I think. It looked like he put his paws up on the wheel well and we could see it's little head. 

And then all of the sudden....