A new family member!

Steph and Dan were scheduled to be married on 10-12-14 at a B&B in Pennsylvania. Then she told me they'd actually get married right before that, in Oregon, so they wouldn't have the hassle of a local license process. 

Then she decided to get married on her birthday, July 7. In the judge's chambers. With strangers for witnesses. And cancel the big Pennsylvania wedding. 

Heather and I were so sad that she got married without any of us there, but we understood. And understood the cancelling of the local wedding- it was going to be expensive. 

As to what kind of family celebration there will be, who knows. Not me, for sure. We'll talk about it next weekend when we see them. 

We all welcome Dan to the family. He's been in Steph's life for a few years now. He's supported her thru the deaths of her godmother, her grandmother, and Whiskey. He's provided love and a shoulder to cry on for her, which I love him for. 

When they moved to Oregon in December, it was hard. We miss them, and we're glad Manda and Ben are close-ish to them geographically. I don't worry about them, they both have a lot of common sense and a shared view of what they want their life to be. 

We'll see them next week at Amary's first birthday party- how is that possible that the little baby is now a year old! 

And the beat goes on.
Holly

Summer Break! Finally!

The district I work in is always one of the last ones to close for the summer, because we're off for every silly holiday anyone has ever heard of. Then they close for a week, and reopen for summer enrichment programs, which I don't work. 

It's going to be a busy summer. Next week I have preadmission testing for my knee surgery, and the following week I have doc appointments for medical and surgical clearance. 

The week after that I fly to Sea-Tac to visit Amaryllis for her first birthday! How can that be! We'll spend a few days at Manda and Ben's, then relocate to Beaverton to see Steph and Dan's place and visit Toast. I fly out of Portland, and come home by way of Phoenix. 

Then on July 30, I get a new left knee to match my right one. The left knee is getting worse and worse, I use the cane a lot now. I'll be in the hospital for 2 days, then come home for in-home PT. Rehabbing the knee will take up August, then back to work! 

Tomorrow is the long delayed birthday party for Julianna and Mom. A Frozen theme, of course. 

Last week we went to Tori's high school graduation party! She's grown into a beautiful young woman, and is going to Stockton. We also went to a meet the baby party for Barbara and John's granddaughter Clementine. Such a cutie! 

Also in June Manda turned 33, and she and Ben had their 4th wedding anniversary. 

It's been an eventful month, and the summer will be busy!

Holly

A beautiful day

Happy Sunday! It's such a nice day out, in the 60's, blue sky, low humidity. Spring at it's best. 

We celebrated our 42nd anniversary last week. I don't know how it's been so long already! We have a lot to celebrate, we have 3 wonderful daughters, 2 wonderful sons-in-law, a wonderful fiance-in-law, 3 lovely grandchildren, and some terrific grand-pets. 

As our gifts to each other, we ordered the laminate flooring for the living room, and upgraded our iPhones to the 5s's. We spent an afternoon at Heather and Ed's, and they barbecued for us. 

The flooring will be delivered Monday and has to acclimate to our house, so it will be installed next Saturday. The painter will be out Monday to estimate painting. The room is moving along!

Barbara brought the Farm Fair Raffle Quilt down on Friday night to be quilted. We managed to load it and she quilted it without any major issues. The thread broke once, and the bobbin had to be replaced, but it went smoothly. I swear I'm making a cheat sheet up, so we don't have to stop and think about each step. 

4 more weeks of school, and the kids are so ready! The whole school has senioritis! 

And it's time to change the washer load before we go to lunch with Frank and Charlotte!

Holly

Memorial Day

We live in the land of the free, because of the brave. I say that every year, and mean it. Thanks to all the Vets out there.

It's been a nice weekend. Saturday morning we went and ordered new laminate flooring for the living room, then went to the diner for a late breakfast. While we were on the way to upgrade our phones, Heather texted to see what we were doing. She invited us down for a cookout. So we had a nice visit with her, Ed, and the kids. And Honey Rose, of course.

We talked about our trip to see Amary for her birthday, and we're buying plane tickets hopefully this week. We'll spend part of the week with Ben, Manda and Amary, then relocate 4 hours south and visit Steph, Dan and Toast. We want to go to the west coast beach so we can say we waded in the Pacific. 

Heather wants to go on a four day cruise for her 40th birthday. The conversation started with me volunteering Ralph to stay with the kids and Honey, and ended up with us going on the cruise with them! 

In between the trip to the Pacific NorthWest and the cruise, I'll get a new left knee, July 30. The ortho said they are doing a new type of procedure in which the patient goes home postop day 2, and most people are off the cane by week 4. So I should only miss a few days, if any, of work in September. 

One more month of school before summer break! The kids are ready, and the staff is more than ready! 

I've already made lemon bars and iced tea, and the baked beans are in the oven for our dinner. I've promised Mom burgers and hot dogs and beans- she's excited. 

And the beat goes on!
Holly

Cinco de Mayo

If we liked Mexican food, we'd celebrate! But since Ralph can't eat beans, and I don't like spicy food, we stay home. 

We had a busy weekend. Friday I saw ortho and set the date for my other knee replacement, July 30. Saturday I got dinner going in the crockpot, then started cleaning in the bedroom. I organized Ralph's closet by putting the dress clothes that he hardly ever wears in the rear top rack, and found a shirt he'd been looking for in the process. I pulled out the old scrubs, which he decided to get rid of. And I rehung his shirts so they all face the same way.

Then I did my closet and bureau, putting everything that's too big or too ugly in a mountain. I also pulled out all the wire coat hangers to toss. From there I moved into the alcove, where I spent a lot of the afternoon. I had a bag of trash, a bag of recyclables, and a bag of shreds, plus a pile for Ralph to go thru. 

Sunday we went grocery shopping, then out to lunch at Longhorn with Frank and Charlotte and Doris. Then back to work! I cleaned off the top of the armoire, and worked on the shelves in the alcove. I'm almost done. 

I had to stop my cleaning streak to go to work today, and we had errands after work, then I ran out of steam and started playing on the computer. 

I'm hoping to be motivated to continue cleaning this weekend. The areas I did look so nice!

I finished Amary's star shaped afghan, and started one in greens and white for the Farm Fair donation afghan. 

And the beat goes on!
Holly

An entire month!

That's how long since my last blog entry, which is terrible. I'm not sure where the time went, and why I didn't blog. The time just seems to zip by.

We had a lovely Easter dinner at Mike and Donna's. We only got Good Friday off, we spent the last week making up snow days. 

I'm almost finished the second star afghan- this one is for Amary. 

We had a decorator come and give us a consultation. We're turning the living room back into a living room! We, meaning Ralph, is taking out a half wall and making the living room flow right into the dining room. It'll look really nice. 

Steph and Dan went to visit Manda and Ben and Amary for Easter, and had a nice weekend together. I'm so glad they live close enough- 4 hours away- that they can see each other fairly frequently, but not so close that they get on each others nerves.

Other than that, the usual. Go to work, come home, repeat 5 times a week. 

Holly

Spring?

The calendar says spring, the weather- not so much. Chilly today, with snow- again!- forecasted for Tuesday into Wednesday.

Bob the Cat turned out to be Roberta the Cat- and she was in heat! She's now spayed, had her shots, and is chipped. She wants to be friends, but is too afraid to let us pet her. She's getting closer and closer, tho. She and Sly play with the sliding door between them. 

We had a nice, tho short, visit with Steph last weekend. She was in for business meetings, and extended her trip to spend a few days here. Since my Easter break was cut to make up snow days, I can't go to Portland to help her pick a wedding dress, so we went shopping here. It worked out well- Heather and Julianna went with us. Steph had a good idea of what she wanted, and she picked a beautiful dress. And Julianna got a flower girl dress and headpiece. It was a nice day.

Heather, Ed, Eddie and Julianna, along with Honey Rose the dog, the duck and the chicken, moved into their new house yesterday. They've been moving things all week, but the furniture went yesterday. Luckily it's only a mile from the house they were renting, so they could take their time. Steph and I got to tour the new house last week, and it's super nice. The kids will ride different busses, but they'll be in the same schools. 

Last Monday Ralph was helping shovel out the recycle truck, which was stuck on our hill- yes, it snowed again. He slipped and fell flat on his back. That evening he felt funny, and we went off to Camp Cooper to get him checked. They collared him, and did and MRI which thank goodness was negative, so they discharged him on meds. We got home at 4 a.m. Luckily I was signed up for an inservice, so I didn't have to go into work. I went to the inservice, and just kept getting up and walking around. It ended at 1.30, and I was home and in bed by 2.30! 

I finished the star shaped afghan that I made for Julianna for her birthday. It was interesting to do. I have to decide what my next project is. 

And so it goes!
Holly