Our Days Have Been Full

 Good evening friends,

I'm writing this on Monday night, although when I was getting on the laptop almost 30 minutes ago, I uploaded some photos, then noticed the desktop was cluttered with documents and so I started organizing those... and now my sister is calling from San Diego. 

Okay, so now it's Tuesday afternoon. Chuck is at a doctor's appointment and Beth is down in her place watching TV. We've been so busy lately. All good things, but just really full days.

Chuck and I took a drive over the weekend, headed east over the 520 floating bridge and into Bellevue, Redmond and Issaquah. It was nice to get away for a few, just us. Mount Rainier was out in all her glory, so close it felt like you could reach out and touch it.

This is a picture of one of the bridges (Seattle has two floating bridges) that I took a few years ago flying into SEA Airport. The bridge is on pontoons that float in the somewhat shallow water.

Mount Rainier from the bridge

We've been video chatting with Diana and the kids. Adelaide was helping her make chocolate chip cookies.

Beth had a doctor's appointment and needed to get some lab work done so they could check her thyroid.

And Christmas. I am so ready to decorate for Christmas! The other night I fixed some hot chocolate with whipped cream and watched a Christmas movie. I don't know, it just felt right!

Chuck should be home soon from his appointment so I need to get ready to go to our storage unit. We're putting away my greeting card/market displays and bringing back Christmas decorations! We usually wait until after Thanksgiving but for some reason this year, I want to decorate now. Do you usually wait for a certain day to decorate?

Enjoy the rest of your week! 

Where Was I?

Look at me sitting at my computer writing to all of you! It's a Christmas miracle! Things haven't slowed down one bit since I last wrote, but I can definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel.

 

So, where was I? Oh yeah, "Then the snow hit."

 

I know weather is relative. A day of rain is a deluge to some and barely noticeable to others. Two inches of snow is armageddon to some and t-shirt weather to others. On Tuesday the 28th we got the first snowfall of the season and church was canceled, city busses were put on snow routes and schools shut down.

 

 

 I know some of you are trying not to laugh. And I appreciate it. Tuesday night our power went out and was out for almost 24 hours. I was so grateful for my tea kettle! Peter bought it for me for Christmas last year because our power had gone out earlier and I couldn't use my electric kettle. Hot tea is good any time of year but it's crucial during a power outage! Diana invited us over to her house on Wednesday so we hung out there for a while. It was warm and toasty!

 

 

Diana and Peter's dog Poppy

 

Eventually the temps rose above freezing, the snow melted and we were all back at work by Thursday. Decorating day for us. The entire staff spends the morning decorating the church, it's fun. Then we all eat pizza and head back to our desks.

 

 Plus I've had a doctor's appointment, a dentist appointment - all routine stuff. I've got my Christmas cards almost done; I'm getting some gifts ready for the custodians, havng Christmas dinner this week with a friend in assisted living... but all-in-all I think things are beginning to slow down. 

 

Peter's family is coming out here for Christmas this year so the gift-giving is a little different. We've actually decided to only buy gifts for the kids. No adult exchange this year, which I'm okay with. Takes the pressure off. Chuck, Beth and I will exchange gifts Christmas morning, then we're all going over to D&P's for dinner and games. We haven't seen his family since the wedding a year ago September so I'm really looking forward to that.

 

Dinner is about ready so I'll close this. I miss you all! I haven't been reading - or writing - it seems for a couple weeks. I'm taking a week off over Christmas so I hope to do a little more blogging during that time. I hope you're all doing well! God bless!

Old Photos

Friday was a difficult day at work. I had to confront one custodian about... inaccuracies on their time sheet. They assured me it was just a misunderstanding. Another custodian is going through some personal things so after we talked for a while I prayed with them before they left.

Beth and I left there late, and we stopped at the grocery store on our way home. After dinner I was sitting on the couch and suddenly my face felt flush, like when you have a fever? And I felt like I was getting a headache. Oh no.

I cleaned up the kitchen and decided to get ready for bed, even though it was only 8:30. I puttered around the house a while and finally took some ibuprofen and headed to bed. Thankfully I woke up Saturday morning feeling so much better! (Thank you for your prayers!)

I spent most of Saturday working on a picture frame that I fill with Christmas pictures every couple of years. I hang it in our hall every December and I put in current pictures we took on Christmas Day, plus pictures from when I was little, when the girls were little... it's fun to look back year after year and see how things have changed!

That's me in the blue, my sister and her husband, and my mom's back is to us. This looks like 5th grade, around 1967. It looks like I'm holding something but I have no idea what. 😊

Our girls in 1994

 Do you display Christmas photos during the holidays?

Do you have family photos throughout your house in general?