Bandages, Shopping Malls, and New Smells

I finally got Beth into the Department of Licensing to renew her state ID! It expired in 2019 and I just never got it done. I got her the REAL ID so she doesn't have to bring her passport with her every time we fly. The guy was so kind and even showed us all her previous photos with the different headbands, pink, blue, purple...! He complimented her on her signature and said it looked like a beautiful drawing. We left there and stopped for lunch before going to the mall. 

 

 

Chuck and I are going to a Seattle Mariners game in a few weeks so I'm looking for a new team shirt. We parked at the opposite side of the mall from our usual place and found out the team store isn't there anymore! I needed up walking the full length of the mall to find another one. She didn't want to make the trek so she found a seat and settled in with her phone. Course I prayed as I walked away, "Lord protect her. If anyone even thinks about harming her let them see your ministering angels...! Sure enough, she was right there when I got back. 😄

 

Then we went to DSW to get some new shoes. Chuck and I got some new arch supports a few weeks ago and I've needed some new walking shoes, and Beth needed some too.

 

She also went to the doctor a few days ago for a blood draw to check on medicine levels. She takes thyroid medicine and every 6 months she's got to get checked. She holds her arm out and straight like this for a long time. I have to convince her that it's okay to use her arm, even with the bandage.

 

 

Chuck, Sharaya, Diana, Poppy and I went for a walk at a local park. It's about a half mile from our house, so we walk there and then walk the loop a few times before heading back. It's right on the edge of a forest area and it's always so cool and pretty. Poppy loved all the new smells!

 

 

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Saturday Snippets - A Foresty Walk, Help With Mowing, Need Some Help!

Chuck is still walking a few times a week. He went by himself last week and did 5 miles! On Wednesday we did about 2.5 miles on the Burke-Gilman Trail. He's got so much energy lately!

 

Sharaya and Allie have come over a couple times recently and I have Allie this weekend, well, tonight anyway. She helped me mow the lawn by doing a few passes with the mower and she used the broom to clean off the lawn chairs.

 She beat the pants off me at Monopoly! We put on our fuzzy socks and slid on the kitchen floor a while. Have you ever tried it? It is so much fun! 

She's such a goofball! 💓

 

 

 

 

Do you do puzzles? I'm finding I'm just not that good at them. When my sister was here Rachel (her 14 yr old granddaughter) would walk over to the table, look at all the pieces, then pick one up and place it in the right spot! What?! How?! We would try every single piece we thought would fit and even then we wouldn't find it and have to try them all again.

I recently spent about an hour on a puzzle Sharaya bought me and this was as far as I got...

After an hour! Is there a trick to this?

 We're slowing making improvements to our house. We've spent our whole marriage traveling, road trips, National Parks. Now the kids are grown and we're putting money into our house. The next big thing is our fireplace. When we bought the house we learned it wasn't up to code so we've never used it. (19 years!) But now we're in the process of getting a gas insert. I can't wait for winter now!!

This is what we have now. I keep a large green plant in front of it to try to hide it. It's so old! 😄

This is the model of the one we're going to get. Our logs will look a little different and the back will be black bricks. I can't wait to be able to flip a switch and have a real fireplace!

 

Do you have a fire place? What kind do you like?

Are you good at puzzles?

Not A Whole Lot

I was looking through the pictures on my phone and realized there hasn't been a whole lot going on around here since my sister left. It's been kinda nice, although I've had to convince myself that it's okay sometimes to just sit and relax. Read a book. Watch TV. I tend to feel so guilty because I'm not accomplishing something. 

But it's okay. It's okay.

We took another walk this week on the Interurban trail. We park the car, then walk a mile or two until we find another good place to park, then we walk back to the car. The next time we park at the good place we found and continue walking where we left off. I was telling Chuck how much I'm enjoying it because we set to see a part of the city that you can't see cruising by on the freeway.

When I took this picture the freeway was on our left and a huge shopping mall was on the right. We've shopped at the mall and driven by this so many times and never knew the trail was here!

By the time we reached this point the freeway was on our left. (The trail ended at one point so we actually drove part of the way, down a main road, across the freeway... got out and continued walking.) 

We came across these gorgeous flowers, I'd never seen them before. If you could open the yellow petals all the way they'd be bigger than your hand! Do you know what they are?

Chuck and I went down to the beach the other night. Well, it's not an actual beach like San Diego or New Jersey, but it's more of a marina / breakwater / sitting area. But we call it the beach. It's calming. And peaceful. 

  

So... that's about it. Sunsets and flowers. It's been a quiet, relaxing week and I've enjoyed every minute of it!

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.

I Choose...

About a week and a half ago I was cleaning Chuck's incision and noticed what looked like two new satellite nodules just outside the incision site. When we met with the radiologist he believed they were cancerous. And when we met with the surgeon today for a post-op appointment she took biopsies of them both and said there might be a total of seven.

We've learned Chuck has Stage 3 Desmoplastic Melanoma, a rare and aggressive skin cancer. He is scheduled for an MRI this Friday to find out if the cancer has spread any more and once we get the results from that we'll be able to figure out the best treatment options.

If I let myself really think about it it becomes overwhelming and scary and I can't think of anything else...

But when I put it in the Lord's hands, when I pour out my heart to Him and remember that my God is so much bigger and greater than cancer, I truly feel better. After all, He hung the moon in the sky and told it to control the ocean tides. He can definitely handle a few rebellious cells in the human body!

So... I choose to be happy.
To just go on living our lives as normal. 
That may change as treatments take over but for now...
I choose happy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

I had a wonderful Mother's Day this weekend. We did drive-through for lunch with Sharaya and Allie (they were in their car) and then we went to the Centennial Trail about 45 minutes from our house. They rode bikes while the 3 of us walked. They came together for a few seconds for a photo then they were off again! It was such a warm day and felt so good to be outside. And there was no one around so no masks!

 How was your weekend? 
Did you try to get together with family?

Saturday Snippets

Beth and I made cookies today.

I learned recently that if you put one or two small pieces of bread in the cookie jar it will keep your cookies soft and chewy. And It really works!

We took another walk, this time down to a park about 1/4 mile from our house. We walked to the park, did two laps around it and then back home again!

We sat out by the fire ring one evening and I remembered to take a picture when we were done. 😁 I'm so thankful we're having nice weather right now!

 We streamed our Good Friday service and I've been very aware of the Lord's presence this weekend. He died to set us all free from fear and guilt and to bring us into relationship with the Father. I pray He touches your hearts as we celebrate all He's done for us. 

I wish you and your family a blessed and joyful Easter!

Beth and I Were Both So Ready

Over a year ago now, Beth somehow broke the charging port in her phone. All 3 of us had the same phone so we'd switch batteries with her. Then we decided Chuck would get a new phone and Beth could have his old one. But two weeks later she broke that one! So for many months now, (too many!) her and I have been switching the batteries in our phones. Usually once in the evening and then in the morning before we head out for the day.

Course there were times that I'd forget and as I'm headed out the door to work, Beth would desperately call out, "My phone is dead!" Oh yea! Back inside to switch batteries. I ended up taking a charger to work cause so often I'd leave the house with no power!

We'd unlock them, take the back off, switch batteries, put the back on, lock them in place and then turn our phones back on.

Twice a day.

Every day.

For about a year.

But ya know, it's life. You deal with things. Then a couple weeks ago I dropped my phone. I was at a friends house and dropped it on the sidewalk. Of course.

Now some of the letters on the keypad don't work as well and the 'go back' button doesn't work. So we decided it was time for Beth and I to get new phones. YES!!! We are SO excited! Still Androids but with more memory, longer battery life, a better camera AND I finally get to get the Instagram app!! I have an account on my laptop, but haven't been able to post anything cause you have to have the app in order to post. (My old phone didn't have enough space.)

Well, our phones arrived today!! While Chuck and I were out walking I got a text from Beth, "The package arrive already right now Mothera!" Hers is the white phone with the pink shell. They're charging tonight and tomorrow we get to use them! We are both SO excited!