Running and Crawling

This weekend was jam packed with stuff to do.

And it’s becoming more apparent I need more weekend, and/or more hours in the day.

Firstly, I signed up for a free yoga class at Source Yoga. I was hoping to steal find a picture but this is the only one, and it’s the front desk and yoga room.

Either way I loved it and am going to two classes this week.

Then off we went to start the yarn crawl. Yes, there was one this weekend-

The SSYC 2013-

Oh my that was fun. Dave was so thrilled to be able to be part of it too. Really. He was. I’m sure of it.

I had gone to one shop already, downtown, so Saturday we went to the Alpaca Farm (Firwood Farms), The Yellow House, and Yorkshire Yarns. (All Lovingly Linked)

We took a few pics of the Alpacas, who were unfortunately hot due to the warm weather we were having. (Where was that constant rain I’ve heard we get “all the time”?)

  

This one was all about the sprinkler.

There were a few hennies too.

All the yarns were named after which animal they were spun from. I always like that.

And, of course, the obligatory “put your head in the Alpaca picture thingy”.

It had to be done.

We working in the yard all afternoon, and Grampa came over to bonsai a tree for the shade garden. Whee. I didn’t take any pictures but I will next weekend when we plan to finish up.

Sunday AM, and I mean AM, Dave and I trekked down to Downtown Tacoma so I could run the Tacoma City Marathon.

It was a beautiful day, and I am happy that I was done by 9, because if I had been running a marathon it would have been hot. HOT! It was 87 degrees that day. 87 degrees of sea breeze and no humidity. (Actually it rained all day because, well, it rains here all the time. I’m just really really good with the photoshop)

There was a good crowd at the start

 

We took off and ran down the way, all along the water and back. It really was a great course. Although the uphill during the last 3 miles wasn’t so great.  And my leg hurt, dang it. But I still had a great race. 

Run Forrest Run……(This is about 2/10 of a mile out. I can see the turn-my leg hurts-keep running, keep running….)

1:58:19-best finish in the past 4 years. Even dragging my leg!

Here’s before and after, with my parking meter friend…

 

Whoa. I did have a fab new skirt though.

And after 13.1 miles, off we went to finish up the yarn crawl.

We had 6 stores to travel to. Starting in Olympia and working north.

It was a spectacular day to travel-

This was the cute shop in Shelton-

We took a picture of Cody’s new Navy home in Bremerton (where we took a wrong turn-we were looking for Port Orchard-and shouldn’t have even seen the big boats)

Dave took a picture of me in Poulsbo, our last stop.

 
After all that, we drove down Bainbridge and hit the ferry to Seattle. That was an all out picture-fest

(Note to self-next time bring big camera for landscape shots….)

     

It was a fabulous day.

And in the time I’ve taken to post this, a whole week has passed. I have been to Yoga twice-loved it, and had dinner with Martha and Grampa, bought tickets to see Paula Poundstone, and am working on the Cheney Stadium Stitch and Pitch Tickets on June 27th. There will be vendors….just saying.

And I was told there will be Downton Abbey specialty fabric in Minnesota. Really? I’ll have to send an agent to pick me up some of that.

Off to work in the yard. Living in the rain forest when the temps are in the upper 70’s makes for hardy weeds.

Have a fab week.

 

I’m Working on It!

The new blog should be out tonight! I have been so busy I can’t seem to finish. But I have almost all the pictures in and just a little more left to do. Yarn crawling takes so much energy…..

However, I have to stop now and go water the plants. No rain for a week or so makes for thirsty plants. One of the things about moving here was the fact I wouldn’t have to water. And now I have to go and do some watering. Go figure.

Anyway-tonight. I promise.

Life Goes On

Well, as everyone knows my Mother passed away two weeks ago.

(Is that really all it is? Time seems to be bending just a little bit).

This weekend, on Saturday April 27th, we had the funeral. It was actually an internment. It was very nice, short, and pretty. With a lunch with family and friends afterwards.

The pre-funeral suits. (I took about 5 pictures and on each one Dave is playing on his phone).

And after the ceremony and the luncheon, we again met at the apartment, but the mood was a little less somber. We had a delicious dinner. And we remembered how Mother used to whip out a dinner like this all by herself. This one took all three of us!

The “Adult” table.

The “Children’s” Table.

There are some cases where you never grow up. I guess this is one.

So we survived that, and now we go on.

The week before, however, I ran a 10 K. The big shoe was there again, although when I tried to get Dave to take a picture it didn’t turn out quite so well. But here’s the best of the two he took.

I guess he was trying to get the water view in? Not sure.

This was also the race Cody was supposed to run with me, but he didn’t because of the change of schedules for the funeral. So I ran alone but much to my surprise I won my age division. That was pretty much of a shocker….

It was cool and a little breezy, but nice for a run.

When the boys got here the following Thursday, Cody decided he had to hit the links. So, Friday, Cody, Blane and their cousin Jacob took Grampa and off they went for 18 holes.

It was a really nice day for it.

There’s the three of them and Grampa in the cart. They shot 28 over or some fantastic score. Wow. Tiger Woods they are not, but I bet they had more fun.

And out of sheer need to take a picture, I took this series.

Jack, waiting……

Cat on the food prep area. Really? Um, maybe you all want to rethink the open invitation for a meal…..

And not to be left out, Yeltsie.

I didn’t take any pictures (why I don’t know) but yesterday, Sunday, my sister Martha, and I met up with friends here at Makers Mercantile for knitting. It is the greatest place. I am sure I will be going back soon. Very soon. And I will take pictures.

Oh, and lastly, but not really that importantly, I got the wall on my cubicle so now I can sleep without fear of someone coming around the corner and seeing me. That having to look busy was ex-HAUS-ting.

Before-

After-

That is what I am talking about. I can still see a little window though.

But they can’t see me.

Just how I like it.

Rest In Peace

Jean Ainslie Kalahan
(July 20, 1925 - April 13, 2013)

Jean Ainslie Kalahan passed away on Saturday, April 13, 2013, surrounded by her family. She was born in Portland, Oregon, to Geneive and George Ainslie on July 20, 1925, and attended St. Helen’s Hall (Oregon Episcopal Schools), Lincoln High School and Reed College. Survivors include her husband of 62 years, Clyde R. Kalahan; three daughters, Debbie Altschul (Jeff), Martha Walker (Tom) and Sarah Melde (Dave); six grandchildren; and cousins, nieces and nephews. She was a dedicated community volunteer for organizations including Children’s Industrial Home (Gateways for Youth and Families), Dr. Edward S. Rich Orthopedic Guild, Tacoma Art Museum and the altar guilds at Christ and St. Mary’s Episcopal Churches. Jean enjoyed golf and was a member of the Nine Hole Group at the Tacoma Country and Golf Club. Other activities included bridge, gardening and listening to the Mariners on the radio. Her family will miss her astute observations as well as her great cooking.

Services will be private in accordance with her wishes. The family requests that memorial donations be sent to Mary Bridge Brigade (Dr. Edward S. Rich Orthopedic Guild), MS: 311-1-MDB, PO Box 5299, Tacoma, WA 98415.

See you when I get there…..

File Under “Deja Vu”

Blane Geddes  alright facebook friends heres a chance for yall to earn your keep. my phone is somewhere in my apt, cant find it. anyone who has my number please call it. feel free to hang up as soon as i answer, i would perfer it.

• Chelsie Westby Find it?

• Blane Geddes nobody panick. i found it

• Brycia DeLano No prize damn

• Sarah Melde Not again. Or was it my phone call that did it?

Familiar? It’s all right here…..

The Morning I Lost All My Stuff

Ok, I didn’t really lose all my stuff, but this morning I have been looking for a little case management book I had which has disappeared, and then I went in to my e-mail to find some pictures my sister sent me of Mother to post here and they are gone too. The Hell? I blame Dave for the little book. I think it was on the table and he just threw it away in the recycle. I blame Yahoo for being so crappy at deleting all the stuff I accidently put in the trash when I really mean to keep it. And no, I didn’t accidently put my little book in the trash when I meant to keep it. I know everyone was silently pointing out the irony of that last statement. Little books are much different than e-mail people.  Quit judging me.

Needless to say it got my morning off to a bad start. Yes it did. And if my sister Martha is reading this, can you resend those pictures. Please. Ugh.

We got through the move at work and this is the new cubicle.

It’s the first on the row and out in the open. I am supposedly getting a half wall so I am not the first thing one sees as they round the corner. Hmmm, I should take a picture of the corner so you can see just how exposed I am. Which means I have to look like I am working people see me working almost all the time.  The cubicle on the right is empty but I usually walk into it as I am trying to go down the hall. Lots of people do. I find it a little amusing. Except when I do it. Then I have to look around and make sure no one saw me.

Across the way are little windows so I can sort of see the weather. Oh, and those giant square lights above me are skylights which are supposed to make us feel better about having no windows. I guess. But I do have the little windows across the way, which I was getting at earlier. If I get up and look out them, this is what I see-

 

I see buildings and between buildings I can see the tide flats with docks and cranes. We had better neighborhood ambiance at the last building but this is OK. There is free covered parking so who can complain.

Last weekend was Vogue Knitting Live in Belleview-aka VK Live. Martha and I attended the marketplace and, well, oh my.

I only bought yarn for projects, I swear it. I bought a little cashmere, and some cobasi for a knit-a-long, and then some Mariners themed yarn for future presents, and some LoLo bar products-we could barely decide. I was overcome by the fiber. The sheer amount and types and again, oh my.

The Barmaids LoLo bars. We could still be there smelling them.

There was even yarn hanging from the ceiling.

 

We had a fabulous day, capped off by a stroll over to Belleview Square to do a little browsing, a little shopping. And no, I did not even go NEAR the Nordstom.

I also bought plants last weekend for my shade garden, and for the rock gardens out front. I tell ya, gardening here is 24/7 and the season lasts about 9 months. I can’t keep up. I could be out there weeding and working and taming the growth every single day. Living in a temperate rain forest kind of climate is great, but very time consuming if you are a gardener…

There they are, through the window, patiently waiting.

Then I took this picture of Yeltsie, just because.

She has the crazy eye.

Martha was in St. Louis for one day last week (she flew back in the nick of time as not to miss VK Live) and brought me this (which I did not trash)

Notice I didn’t lose the picture about me, but did lose my mother, briefly. Seriously, quit judging me.

PS-Next week I will post some nice pictures of my mother that Martha is going to (re)send me….again. Really.

April Fools

Which is what we are. Although I don’t have any April pictures at all, just end of March Easter pictures. Ha! April Fool’s.

It was a beautiful weekend here. We couldn’t stop taking pictures.

I saw this at the beginning of the week on my way to work-

 

 

Someone has been yarn bombing! It was fabulous.

I love a good yarn bomb-especially signifying the coming of spring. Which, in my opinion, arrived last week.

Thursday was the last of the March Irish Runs with the Tacoma City Runners. We were at Katie Downs, which is on the water and it was a great night for it-

 

And at the end of it all, we got to enjoy a frosty beverage with 80 of our closest friends.

If you squint (or make this bigger by clicking on it) you can see Dave bringing us our beers. I laughed when I realized he was in the picture.

Our office moved at the end of the week. And in the spirit of all things unorganized, I ended up getting a day and a half off work. Paid. Sweet and seriously fabulous. Not the moving, the days off. I needed a little break.

That desk would be my sad empty cubicle-Good Bye Window…..Ugh, note to self-wait until AFTER the move to start a new job.

Getting off early Friday, Dave and I decided we must take a walk at Chambers Bay. (He started work a couple of weeks ago and he gets off around 3ish)

Blurry Red Currants.

We went again on Easter, because it was such a nice day. Even nicer than Friday and Saturday, which saw a lot of working in the yard, but no pictures of said yard! There really isn’t much to show yet-red mulch on empty beds. But next weekend I am starting my shade garden. I hope. It’s also Vogue Knitting Live Seattle on Sunday. Don’t be jealous. Martha and I are headed to the market place Sunday, then a little shopping for our mother, who needs more pants. (Not sure anyone has to actually know that, but it seemed important to specify…)

Anyway, as I said, Easter was a beautiful day-

 

 

I took a million pictures, I could keep going, but I think these illustrate that it was a beautiful day. In the afternoon, we went over the the apartment and had dinner with Grampa. It was nice there too!

And that’s the weekend, and the week.

We (family) met on April 1st, what a day, with the nursing home and decided where Mother will stay, which is at the nursing home. She has to move as she is no longer Medicare appropriate. We will be decorating her room a little, and I’ll print out some pictures today for her to have. It’s very sad that she won’t be coming home, but good that she can get 24 hour care. Adjustments are being made by all of us.

So, next up pictures of the new office. We are moved. Whew, that was stressful…..

Our new office building** (cubicles are way to the left over the arched doorway with the teeny weeny windows….)

**Blah stock photo of building-will take a happier one in the near future)