September Report

I have been diligent in writing these reports, at least. Although not much has changed from month to month, I've promised myself I would be accountable all year long. It will be interesting for me to compare them at the end of the year.

I have been so crazy busy that it's ridiculous. Only four blog posts in September! Almost no quilting done, and it should have been a big month for getting at least two quilts done. Nope. Didn't happen. But I've managed to take things day by day, and enjoy (mostly) what's come my way and just been happy with what I've done. That's a big improvement for me personally. Then I'm more in the moment, and enjoying life, rather than being bothered by the "extras" that don't get done.

So,with those thoughts, here is my report on September:

1.  First things first: much the same. Plugging along, doing fairly well.
2.  One shelf/drawer per day: I think about which shelf I want to do every day. Do I get it done? Not that often. But my sister-in-law and I are trading two days a month helping each other organize some area in our home. That's about even with one shelf or drawer per day. Actually the real bonus is that I'm ready for her help, because I've cleaned out and organized so much already.
3. 30-30-30: by far my most effective method of keeping on task. I'm like a little kid--so responsive to the challenge of beating a timer. I like the days that I have time to employ this system.
4. Skype/webcam: I've been doing more FaceTime with the grands. My goal for September was to sign up for Skype. Let's just say that that particular goal will be carried over into October.
5. Digital Photo Storage: I'm still plugging away at the class I'm doing. I got slightly derailed by a different project but will be back on track now.

Eating Our Way Through the Eastside

Seattle is home to some of the best restaurants in the world. We've eaten in many of them, and have some great favorites. Last week while we were there we ate our way through the weekend, and had a great time doing so.

We stopped at Top Pots Doughnuts in Bellevue on our way home from the airport. Those are some good donuts. Perhaps the best apple fritter I've ever had. For regular old donuts, though, I still love Factory Donuts in Kingsgate.

Thursday night we took Debby and Randy to dinner to celebrate their birthdays. We gave them their choice of restaurant, and they picked what we consider to be the best food in the greater Seattle area. And believe me, we've eaten at a lot of great restaurants. Ray discovered Tosoni's many, many years ago. Walter, the owner and chef, remembered Ray and promised to put cioppino on the menu for Ray that night. Tosoni's is in a little strip mall in the Overlake area of Bellevue. It's intimate and friendly. If you like melt-in-your-mouth, savor-the-goodness, out-of-this-world food, this is the place for you.

Ray and Diane

Debby and Randy - see the kitchen in the back? We're at the front of the restaurant. Cozy and small.

The menu. The cioppino was a special offering.

Mahi Mahi

Veal Piccata

Cioppino

The best chocolate in all the world. I couldn't wait long enough for the picture. I just had to have a bite first.

The chocolate decadence at Tosoni's is like no other. There is no better chocolate that I've had in my life. Ever. Take it from someone who knows chocolate: it's the best.

On the other end of the food spectrum is King Charley's in Snohomish. The service is excruciatingly slow and the only seating are two archaic picnic tables which more closely resemble teeter-totters. But--there is no better burger, nor are there any better fresh fruit shakes in the state of Washington. Or any other state I've been in so far.

Madeleine, Ray, Debra, Jonathan, Randy, Diane

Those are the extremes of our eating. We also managed to squeeze in Cafe Veloce where I had my favorite Pasta Muffaleta, Pizza Bank for a beef gyro, and Pomegranate Bistro, where I had an incredible BLTGA (bacon, lettuce, tomato, gouda cheese, avocado and peppadew aioli) sandwich. 

The rest of the weekend (and, really the best part) was spent being with family and friends. More of that to come soon.

The Beloved Buick

When I was a kid we had a 1965 Buick Sportwagon. Oh, how my mother loved that car. She swore she would never get rid of it. We had that car for a long time. I remember many a cross-country trip taken in it. My mom cried the day my dad turned it in for a newer car. (We kids rejoiced.)

The other day Ray and I were driving and I saw this car: 

It was an Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser, not the Buick Sportwagon, but looks so much like the Buick I thought it was one at first. I was very excited. Those windows on the top were a dead giveaway. Our car was beige, like the one below and had a red interior. It had front and back seatbelts that were dutifully stashed under the seat. After all, if they were out they just got in the way. 

I don't think I've seen a car like that since 1975. It was great to see one again. It brought back a lot of great memories.

Pre-travel Conversations

We're headed to Seattle to see my daughter and family. In fact by the time this is on my blog we may be there already.

I've had some fun conversations with the girls about our upcoming trip. It all started one day while we were on FaceTime and I mentioned how excited I was to come. Madeleine informed me that we would be there in ten and nine days. They'd been counting.

Here are the email communications that have happened since then:
Aug 21

Me: I will see you in ten and seven days!

Love, G’ma

via Debra: no two girls were ever more excited. 

Aug 24

Me: Thirteen days!!

Aug 26

See August 28 post

Sep 3

Me:

How old is Diane?

2

How old is Madeleine?

4

What is the number between 2 and 4?

3

That's how many days until I see Diane and Madeleine.

I can't wait!!
I love you!

G’ma

via Debra: madeleine: we already know that!

they've been counting down, hard core. seven days ago, madeleine said, "diane. there are seven days until we see g'ma and pa'a. and then the next day, there are six. and then five, and then four, and then three, and then two. so there are pretty much two days left."

Sep 4

The girls’ morning conversation, via Debra:

madeleine: diane, guess how many days until g'ma and pa'a come!
diane: oh! 
madeleine: that's not a number, that's a letter! it's two day!

August Report

These monthly accountings of my activities are telling. I still love the goals, but have relaxed a little in my approach.

1. First things first: still plugging along. I do pretty well at exercising, and if I am not eating perfectly, I am at least aware of how I'm eating and paying more attention. Scripture study is better, but not perfect. I've got a course of study I'm following now that I like and think I will sustain for a while.
2. One shelf/drawer per day: it is not happening daily, but is happening on a regular basis. So I'm feeling great about that. This could be a goal for a long time.
3. 30-30-30: my miracle working stay on task remedy. I can't believe how much more I get done when I do this.
4. Skype/webcam: I love FaceTime, but need to sign up for Skype on the off chance that I need it. It almost set me back yesterday to not have it. That's my goal for September: sign up for Skype.
5. Digital photo storage: I'm excited about this. I'm still slowly making my way through learning the system, but it is exactly what I need.

I feel like my life is a little unpredictable, what with needing to be available for my parents, and my church responsibilities. When I push myself to get certain things done I can feel the headaches coming on. I've decided not to impose unnecessary deadlines on my projects. That leaves those necessary deadlines more achievable. It seems great to be making progress, and I'm striving to be happy with progress that will eventually end in completion. If that makes sense. Life's too short and people too important to me to fret about projects that should be bringing me joy and satisfaction rather than frustration.

Happy September!

Juliet by Anne Fortier

I don't know what to say. I should have loved this book, but ended up only liking it.

Is it because I had a hard time finding time to read it and sometimes lost track of what was happening and who people were? Maybe. But if I'd really loved it I would have made time to read it, and wouldn't have been as forgetful.

Is it because I just read a story within a story book that I loved and liked better than this one? Maybe. But if I'd really loved it that wouldn't have mattered.

Here is what I liked: I liked reading what is supposed to be the original story of Romeo and Juliet interwoven within a modern story. I liked the modern story okay.

Here's what I didn't like: I felt the writing was uneven. I felt like the characters were not consistent. Sometimes I wanted to say let's just move things along here, don't take so long to tell the story. Sometimes I wanted to say really? you're going to just wrap that up so quickly?

So there you have it. An ambiguous review. Perhaps because that's how I feel about the book. Ambiguous.

Rise and Shout

It's that time of year. Football.  I just love our season tickets and going to all the BYU games. Last night was our first game of the season and we won. That's always a bonus. We have tickets with Ray's parents and his sister Amy and her husband Jim.

The first three games are usually hot and the last three freezing cold. Last night it was pouring rain as we walked into the stadium (blue skies when we left home) but it stopped before the game started. It was about 85 degrees for the evening - just right.

Amy and her friend

Me and Ray

DMV Miracles

Taken separately, the letters D and M and V lead very mundane lives (except perhaps V, which is my nemesis in Words With Friends). But put them together and you can't help thinking of the Department of Motor Vehicles. It's hard to find anyone who has a positive thought about the DMV. Today I would be that person with the positive thought--even more than one positive thought.

Over the last two weeks I've been to the DMV three times on three different errands.

1. My parents moved here to Utah to live in an assisted living place close by me almost two years ago. They previously lived in Washington and their ID/Driver's Licenses expire this year on their birthdays. Neither of them drives, but they still need a legal government ID card to show when they go to the doctor or hospital, or should they travel by airplane ever again (not likely, but it could happen).

My dad's birthday was last week and of course I let all this go too long and I was worried about getting all the information together that they need for the IDs. Sure enough there were a couple of problems--I won't go into detail here. Suffice it to say that I was pretty worried that they wouldn't accept some of the information in the form I had it, but I thought we'd go anyway and give it a try. Then I could also find out what would work, and perhaps how I could go about getting what I needed for them.

I gathered a large pile of papers hoping that we could make something in there work, and picked up my parents. I knew this would be hard on them. They don't wait very well anymore, especially my mom. And I was worried if the examiner said No to anything that my mom might have a fit (she's not great at masking her feelings anymore--as if she were ever very good at it). When we arrived at the DMV I warned my parents: this will definitely be a long wait. Also, there is a good chance they will make us come back again with some different information. And, last of all, I was going to have to do some fast talking and would they please not interrupt, but wait quietly. (It didn't sound so rude when I said it). They agreed.

We went in and there were only three people in the line ahead of us. Whew! But there were about 70 people waiting (I counted) to be helped once they got through the initial line. We got to the front of the line and I explained what I was there to do. They gave us a number. 455. We looked at the board which said which numbers were being helped. 109, 327, 110. I quickly explained that the numbers would not come up in numerical order, but rather in the order you came in. The numbers meant different things to the examiners. (A simplification, but close enough). The look of panic receded a little bit from their faces. We sat down.

Fifteen minutes later we were called to be helped. There was an angel of mercy sitting behind that counter, looking more like a man who was about 55 or 60 years old. We started the process, and sure enough my mom started interrupting. I suggested she and Dad sit down and wait until we called them up when they were needed. She said she was fine--with that stubborn look that all my siblings know. The man behind the counter leaned toward my mom and said, "Your husband looks a little tired. Perhaps if you both sit down it will be easier on him." My mother smiled at him and said, "Okay". They sat down. That man took his forms in hand, took my pile of papers, and said, "I think we will make this work." We went through everything thoroughly, and he was very accommodating. Twenty-five minutes later we were out the door with new IDs in hand. I wanted to cry I was so happy. And thrilled that it only took that long, considering all we did. We don't have to go back! Truly a miracle.

2. Two days later I was back at the DMV on the side where they do licensing. For Ray's birthday I got him personalized plates for his motorcycle. I barely had to wait and was called up. The first two plates we wanted were not available. Just in case anyone needs to know, in Utah you can look online and see if plates are available. These were listed as available, but in reality were not. The girl helping me really busted her tail to see if we couldn't make it work. No dice. But we did get our third choice.  In and out in less than twenty minutes. Miracle #2

3. Today I was getting new tabs for my car. My fault--it was the end of the month and there I was needing to get the tabs. I drove up to the DMV and thought I'd try the drive-through. There were no cars there and I thought they were closed. Nope. Three lanes wide open. In and out in less than five minutes. Miracle #3.

It will be a long time before I criticize the DMV again.