Austin turns 3

Our oldest grandchild, Austin, turns 3 today. It was a happy day when he joined our family! I was there to help Audrey when he was born, and I didn't think it would be possible, but he is even cuter today than he was when he was born. One great thing about Austin's birth is he introduced me and Ray to grandparenthood. What a boon that is to our lives!

Happy birthday Austin, from Pa'a and Grandma Diane. We love you!

First dogwood sighting of the year...

I love dogwoods. The northwest has lots of dogwoods. Utah does not. It is a major flaw with Utah in my opinion. When we lived in Kirkland, each spring I would begin my dogwood watch the end of April. I knew the few trees that blossomed first, and once they were in bloom, I knew where to start looking for the next wave of blossoming trees, until most of them were in bloom. In my old neighborhood and its surrounding areas I would slow down and just gaze at the dogwoods as I drove by (annoying, I'm sure, to drivers following me). The white ones always bloom first, then the pinks. Oh, how I love a pink dogwood! I even tried to grow one in my yard, but my black thumb prevailed, and it died. Rapidly.

Well, this last week I was back in the Seattle area (more on that in another blog), and I was shocked to see the dogwoods still in bloom. Oh happy day! One morning I went at 6:30 a.m. to get my hair cut, and on my way home stopped to take the pictures below. The pink dogwood is the tree just around the corner from my old house on the way to the pool. (I now have the pink dogwood picture as my screen saver.) Part of my trip was going to Leavenworth, and there were more dogwoods all along highway 2 on the way to Leavenworth. I was in heaven.

It's the end of the season, so the flowers aren't at their best, but they were plenty good enough for me.
My all time favorites.

Rear-view mirror ornament

This afternoon I was driving along, minding my own business. I came to a stop at a red light, and glanced at the car ahead of me. I almost had a heart attack right then and there. There was a giant spider hanging from his rear-view mirror. Several thoughts crossed my mind immediately.

Thought 1: Perhaps I should call 911 as a preemptive measure. Surely the driver will have a heart attack at any moment. After all, I nearly did, and wasn't even in the car.
Thought 2: That is disgusting.
Thought 3: I don't know if I could even associate with someone who had that hanging from his rear-view mirror.
Thought 4: Just one more reason never to have a rear-view mirror hanging ornament.
Thought 5: This guy better be a spider scientist at the very least. There could be no other acceptable reason for something like that hanging right in your face.

The light turned green, and I pulled out to go around him (I couldn't bear the thought of following that image down the road). As I passed his car there was a sticker on the side:
Black Widow Pest Control.

Not a company I'd care to work for.

Sisters: the Next Generation

Since 1991, the Linford women have had a sisters' weekend each year. This includes me, all my sisters-in-law on my husband's side of the family, and my mother-in-law (nine of us when we are all there). We get away for a long weekend, typically from Thursday evening until Monday morning, without husbands and children (only nursing babies allowed). We usually go in March, although it changes occasionally to accommodate various family events such as weddings, births, and missions. It is a time we hold sacred on our calendar, and I for one do everything I can to be there.

Now that three of us have grown/married daughters of our own, we have begun to have our own little sisters' weekends of our own. This weekend was mine, with my daughters. We did it once before in 2007, when Austin was just 6 weeks old, and the men all went Scuba diving at Cozumel. We haven't had one since, but hope to now make it a regular event.

It was so fun! Because of work and school for some of us, we had a compact version of the weekend. We started Friday evening, and ended on Sunday when everyone else came for dinner.

Friday we met at the bowling alley, and bowled. I did better than I usually do in my league, and we all had a blast.

(Audrey, Beth, Madeleine, and Debra at the bowling alley)

After bowling, we ate at Paradise Cafe and Bakery. Then we came home and played the first of several games of hand and foot. Once we got our game fix, we decided to open our Sisters' gifts (another tradition passed down to this generation - we each bring a gift that we give to everyone). I got a little carried away this year, but we all gave/got some very fun stuff:

(Audrey's gift: a brown sugar disc. It keeps your brown sugar soft. Debra's gift: a fun notepad with elastic to keep it closed. I used it to keep notes about what we did this weekend. Beth's gift: a Flipper measuring spoon. It has two ends, and can flip inside out to give four measurements. I gave: some lotion, shoe liners, a notepad for keeping lists, the book Alfie Gets in First, and a book journal. )

After the gifts we were tired and went to bed.

Saturday we got up and Ray made us pancakes with fresh strawberries on top. (Ray was the male exception this year - he got to stay. We did it at our house, and he just pretty much stayed out of the way except when preparing delicious meals for us.) Then we played hand and foot. Then we watched the movie 27 Dresses. Then we ate lunch and played another game of hand and foot. Then the project time began. Audrey and I worked on sorting, alphabetizing, and putting away many DVDs. Beth and Debra worked on our family photo album for 2007. Meanwhile Singing in the Rain was showing in the background. Lines were quoted and songs sung while we worked. While we were working, Ray made us Sopa de Lima for dinner. We ate our dinner while we played another game of hand and foot. After the nourishment we went back down to finish our projects, then we watched the movie Enchanted. By then it was definitely bedtime.

Sunday morning we were up bright and early, and went to church. We got home from church, and started getting dinner ready. The men arrived, and we were able to get in one last game of hand and foot before dinner. What a fabulous weekend! Thanks girls, for being so wonderful. I love you!

Audrey, Diane, Beth, Madeleine, Debra

Audrey, Debra, Madeleine, Diane, Beth

How I Found the Strong by Margaret McMullan

This book is by the same author that wrote When I Crossed No-Bob. I didn't like this one as well. It's a fast read - it only took me a couple of hours. If you only have time for one or the other, read When I Crossed No-Bob. This book actually takes place before No-Bob, but I don't feel they need to be read in order.

...and bowling's our game

Last Wednesday our bowling season came to an end (September to May). We finished the season by making a great leap from the rock bottom team to the next-to-last team. Let's just say we play for fun (our league name is Goof Balls if that is any indication). Last year we did much better in the standings, but this year we just could not pull ourselves out of the dump.

When I first moved here my friend Marci called me and asked if I'd like to be on her bowling team. I'd never done such a thing before! I asked how often they bowled - every Wednesday afternoon for about 2 hours. I thought - I hate to have to commit to every Wednesday - but then I realized that I had no life, and thus no commitments. I might as well commit then as anytime. So it began. Marci, Kelley and I had our team, and off we went. We actually did okay last year. And this year we all improved our averages. I guess everyone else improved more than we did.

One thing for sure: no one has more fun than we do! Thanks Marci and Kelley, for making my Wednesdays the best day of the week.

Marci, Diane, Kelley

Junk Mail

I counted my mail for one week, and 72.5% of it was junk mail. A surefire way to constructively battle waste and conserve natural resources would be to ban junk mail. It would also be a surefire way to lessen my daily annoyances.

Two-Part Invention the Story of a Marriage by Madeleine L'Engle

This is one of my all time favorite books. I've read it several times, and just finished it again so that I can review it for my book group tonight. I wondered if it would have lost any of its savor, but it hasn't. I liked it just as well this time around as each time I've read it before.

It is the story of the marriage of Madeleine L'Engle and her husband Hugh Franklin. In her description of love, marriage, faith, prayer, and humankind, it is as if she has reached into the part of my brain that doesn't know how to express itself and written in this book about what's in many of my thoughts about those things.

This book speaks to my soul. It is the ultimate romance story: real and down to earth.