Brandi Carlile, Sushi, and Seattle (aka, time with David and Tia)

We were able to get out of Dodge for the long weekend to see some of our favorite peeps: David and Tia!  We headed out on Thanksgiving day, so the roads were eerily quiet. 

David and Tara were pretty busy the first day, so Derrick, the kids and I messed around a bit in Seattle.  We ate at one of our favorite Sushi places, and drove around looking at the city.  That night we took the kids to the movie.  We went to "Life of Pi" thinking it was going to be this great kid show (it is rated PG!!) and it turned out to be one of the scariest movies ever.  I almost had to leave with Kloe, and both the people ahead of us and behind us gave us sympathetic/amused looks as soon as the movie was over.  I should have just taken the girl during the movie- it was way too much for her.

We just enjoyed Saturday.  It was nice getting to spend a quiet day together.

Sunday we went to see Brandi Carlile perform with  the Seattle symphony at Benaroya hall.  She is so good; we all had a great time.

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Lame Blogger

Haven't blogged in way too long. I have no good reason for last week, except I was busy with work and enjoying the first real summer days we've had. This week I don't have internet access, and I've resisted doing the ol' blog from the blackberry up to now.

I literally was able to hang out with some of my very favorite people, either by going to a concert, going on a long walk, going on a guided food tour of a small town, throwing a summer kid party, and by playing a ginormous baseball game. One favorite friend couldn't be with me, or I with her, but we had a nearly three hour phone conversation.

Every week should be like last week.

This week I have been in T.Falls at Steph's. The kids are on their second (and last) week of swimming lessons. We were able to hang out at Renae's yesterday (she's back!), and today I hung out with Heidi and caught up while we watched the kids swim.

Tomorrow we will be in Paradise cemetery, pouring cement and setting Mom's head stone. It's been hard to find a day on the calendar that would work for us to meet up; it'll be good to finally have it up there.

On a different note, I have made an unfortunate hair dye decision. I would have thought that I would be over my "great ideas" when it comes to hair color. Now I know I will someday be that 85 year old woman with crazy orange hair. I guess if I didn't learn from the accidental green hair incident at age 15 (and my resulting nickname "Spruce") I will never learn.

Oh well. It's just blond, bright red and pink highlights... Not the subtle coolness I was going for, but it shouldn't be too hard to fix once I get home.

Auntie Lores n Kids

Kids at lessons

Kicking off Summer Party



Whip Cream Fight



@ Brandi and Ray Concert

Ma' girl and I at concert

He made Level 3!

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My Summer To-Do

Droopy Days

This summer has already been rushing by.  I should say "summer vacation", because in reality the first day of summer is June 21st, which is five days away from now.

So far we have had a whole three consecutive days of sun, and a whole lot of rain.  Everything is beautiful (the plants are loving it) but it's making people kind of droopy.

It's been kind of quiet up to now.  I've been filling in at my office job this week.  I'll be taking the kids to T. Falls on Sunday and leaving them with Stephy.  They are going to be taking swimming lessons with their little cousins there for the next couple of weeks.  I am working at the office again Monday (Going to see Brandi Carlile and Ray Lamontagne in concert- Derrick bought us tickets forever ago! Can't believe it's already here) and Tuesday (my friend Amy's gonna stay with me for a bit those days while her kiddo gets fixed up at the doctor) and then I should be mostly done there for the rest of the summer.  I'll drive down to T. Falls to be with the kiddies and Stephy.  We'll be staying there during the next couple of weeks, and then going back home on the weekends for various summer parties and 'hanging out with Derrick time'.  

The assembly is coming up in July, and I'm hoping for some camping in there with various buds of ours.  There is definitely gonna be a trip to Seattle sometime in August to see Aunt Tia and Uncle David.  All of this will be interspersed with meetings, service, playing at the water park with our friends, being Derrick's office sidekick, and keeping the house functioning. 

Hopefully most of these things will happen under a big sunny sky.

Lilith Fair!!!

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Me, Myself, and I

This has been an interesting week so far. I've been kidless since Sunday afternoon and husbandless since Monday morning! The kids are having a great time in Thompson Falls. Kloe is staying with Stephanie and Aiyana, and Derrin is staying with Heidi and Colton. Steph signed both the kids up for swimming lessons, and they are LOVING it. Swimming lessons last for two weeks, so it looks like the kids will be back down there next week too (which I am sure breaks their hearts).

So, what have I been doing in the meantime? Weeelll, Monday was a weird mood day for me. I had a crazy downward swing that sort of hit me unexpectedly in the morning, and it lingered for about half the day. I was actually glad that my family wasn't around to have to deal with me. If I were to have a mood chart with crazy low at a 1 and crazy high at a 10, I would give that morning a 2. I managed to calm myself to go to work by 11, and being at work seemed to help. When I got home I worked on an art project for awhile (computer art with photos) which was very soothing, and then I forced myself to go on my 6.2 mile run. I ended up walking the final mile, but I felt WAY better at that point. Then I went to Finnegans (I was very amused with my choice of restaurant) to eat and use their WI-FI. The day ended on a good note.

Yesterday I had the day off to go to Mom's doctor appointment. We were worried about her stomach because she has been having a lot of pain, and we were getting results from a CAT scan she had received the week before. The scan didn't show anything going on in her stomach (cancer wise), but it did show a spot on her liver that wasn't there before. The report said that it was suspicious of cancer, but maybe it could just be a hematoma. The doctor said it was pointless to test it since operating wouldn't really be an option anyway since she has several tumors in her lungs. I can tell she is starting to feel scared now. I'm scared too, but it's like the feelings and thoughts that go along with my mom's sickness are blocked. I don't think I could function on a daily basis if I had to deal with those feelings. I pray a lot about it, for strength. Running helps a lot. We are trying to spend more time down in Plains and Thompson Falls too. All of the yard work is helping too:)

I did a lot of yard work after I left Mom and Dad. I lined the little pond in front of our house with new plastic, put rocks in, and filled it with water finally. It is a muddy pond, but I have given up on perfection out there a long time ago. I did a ton of weeding out there this morning, and hopefully Derrick will hook up my new little fishy spout to the water pump when he gets home. All that will be left after that is to get a couple new little goldfish to start their own little game of who will survive Rachel's pond this year:)

After all that yard work, I got all dolled up and went into town to eat with Shannon, and then we went to the Jewel concert. My honest feelings about Jewel are 1) She is a brilliant song writer. 2) She is a very funny performer and very good with interacting with the audience. 3) When she gets too dramatic in her Jewel fashion it actually makes me happy because it reminds me of the same slightly irritated feelings I had with that as a kid. She brings me right back to being sixteen again:) Anyways, I had a good night with Shannon.

And that brings me up to today. I ran my 6.2 this morning. That brings me to 12.4. Gonna run tomorrow (will be at 18.6), take Friday off and the Saturday is THE DAY. I am looking forward to it!!! BRING IT!!! Derrick will be home by the time I get off work and I am glad of it. Although I have enjoyed the last three days of me time, I wouldn't want it to always be just me. Waking up next to someone I love and hearing the voices of two more of my little loves in the living room is how I want my life to be.