On My Own

 It was such a nice quiet weekend.  All my days are fairly quiet, but I love days when I don't have one thing on the calendar.  I really get so much more done on those days but at my pace.

This is a relaxed cat!  She has nothing on her calendar either.  Eat and choose the cat tree, the bed, or the carpet in front of the fire to sleep.  And work on those blinds to try to make a permanent entrance to the window sill.

We all just did our things Saturday, but Sunday the family went to the Mariner's game.  I'm not sure who won, but they got on the Jumbotron again, and what is more important?  The video is not working right now, but I'll leave it in case I figure out something.

The girls did their part to make sure they were seen and filmed with the big foam hands and jumping up and down constantly.  

Katherine and Ellis

I did the usual things - straightened up the apartment and refilled the hummingbird feeder.  I continued listening to a Mary Higgins

 Clark book, Where are the Children Now?  I remember when we couldn't wait for her next suspenseful book to come out, and I've had this one on hold for months now.  Unfortunately, it's not capturing my interest that much.  I can't identify with any of the charters or even remember their names.  I'll finish it, probably tonight. 

I made a list of movies to watch.  I almost never watch a movie, and I'm subscribing to Netflix and Prime Video for some reason, so I thought I would try to take advantage of it.  I found an article with some nice reviews and picked out several to watch.  

I went to my list of movies already watched to see if I can remember any from last year, and I saw one that's going off Netflix on the 30th that I'm going to watch.    It's The Four Seasons from 1981 with Alan Alda and Carol Burnett.  I think Mike and I enjoyed it back then, and it's been long enough for me to have forgotten all about it.  I'll watch that tonight and listen to a few chapters of my book.

[I must have been thinking of something else, because this one was not it.  All six characters vied for the loudest voices, and their laughter. - I just couldn't take it past the first season! ] 

The last movie I watched was The Age of Adeline.  I don't think it got great reviews, but I like Blake Lively, and the subject matter was interesting, if a little confusing to keep up with.  A person who nearly dies in an accident  and is stuck at her age forever, never getting old and dying.  It was very well done, I thought, and I loved seeing the scenes of downtown San Francisco and glimpses into other the other "ages" of Adaline.  

    I hate I wasted some of my valuable minutes on a movie I didn't like, but at least I know.  I'll watch Persuasion next, and I know that will be good.  And have a cup of this.

I'm not much of a tea drinker, so I didn't know the taste of chai, but "someone on the internet" said it was good, so I got some.  It took a little getting used to, but I look forward to my cup every afternoon.  I just use 1% milk and have enjoyed it cold more than hot.  

Next week is going to be nice.  I'm counting on it.  We want at least one day where we can go to the pool and sit and bask in the sunshine and maybe take Mary's Scrabble game.  After the 100% chance of rain tomorrow, we'll have 9 days of no precipitation at all.  Next Friday with sunshine and 84 degrees will be the highlight of the year for us so far.  We'll be absolutely sweltering!

After School Fun

 I did get a lot done today and had a chance to listen to my book a bit.

There was a steady rain when I walked down to pick up the girls.  I just go far enough to watch them cross the street, and then they are on their own.  I saw Graysen look up a side street  on our block and make eye contact, and that relieved me to see that.  They are so wound up when they leave school and so busy talking and yelling at people that I'm afraid they don't pay enough attention.  We don't have crossing guards at our intersection any more.

This seems to be a barberry shrub.  There are several alongside the walk by my apartment, and their ends are pretty sharp if you get too close.

The rhododendrons are just budding.  We have them around every building, and they are beautiful when they bloom.

This shows up on my Lens indentifier as Japanese andromeda (Pieris japonica) or lily of the valley shrub.  It's a long wait, but it's about to be so pretty around here.

The girls had Carly from upstairs over, and they were so noisy I went in the bedroom and closed the door.  I guess they have to yell to tell each other their opinions.  They asked permission to make tea, and since I know their "tea" is water with things added, I said it was fine and would keep them quietly busy.

I got invited to their restaurant after a while.

My booth.

That's a piece of expensive chocolate, even though it looks like a plain graham cracker.

And the tea!  It was (surprisingly) drinkable if cinnamon granules don't bother you.  

I gave it 4 stars for its ambience, good hostess and waitress, delicious food, and good prices (free).  They lost a star because of too much giggling in the kitchen, and I may have seen the waitress's belly a couple of times.  She said it was a crop top.  I'll certainly go back again.  It's very cozy.

Post Tax

 I can't believe how I spent all that time on Turbo Tax - only because it was free - and then had a message at the end saying I had foreign assets and had to upgrade.  Whatever!  Of course I don't, and of course no one can tell me how to uncheck that box - which I never checked in the first place.  I refused to upgrade just because I spent all that time and then was told I had to pay.  Why offer it free, knowing it's never going to be?  I'm starting early and doing my own next year.  I spent a long time going over every entry, and I know what to do now.  We'll see next March!

We're still plodding along waiting for spring.  The cherry trees are beautiful, and everything is blooming.  It's just rainy and cool.  Noreen and I took a long walk yesterday and enjoyed it.  We were walking along in the drizzle, and all of a sudden the sun came out, immediately surrounding us.  We both said, "Ahhhhh" at the same time.  We even sat on the porch for a while when we finished walking.  

I'm still enjoying listening to books.  I don't think I will read as many this month.  I have about 10 on hold, so I'm to the point of requesting short stories to fill in the gaps.  I just finished Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks, and I don't think I would have stuck with it so long if it weren't for his voice reading the stories.   When he talks, I just want to listen, but the stories leave me hanging.  I like a kind of ending to a story, and some of these just fizzle out - or maybe this is the modern short story.  He sure pays attention to detail though.    https://www.amazon.com/Uncommon-Type-Stories-Tom-Hanks/dp/0735273839

He also reads some of Ann Patchett's books, and These Precious Days explain how that all got started.  I enjoy her writing and downloaded everything I could find by her as well as Anne Tyler.  

https://www.amazon.com/These-Precious-Days-Essays/dp/B08WH9L21V/ref=sr_1_1?hvadid=570529872880&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9033296&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=14740508290464921767&hvtargid=kwd-377357863801&hydadcr=6835_13207589&keywords=these+precious+days&qid=1682013718&sr=8-1

It seems like lately I'm trying to catch up with all the books I missed, but now I don't remember half of the ones I've read, so I have all those that I could re-read.  I finally found a book I read in the 90s - Walking Across Egypt by Clyde Edgerton, and it's just as funny now as it was then.  Only now I'm about the same age as the "old lady" in the story and can identify with just about everything she does and says.  She reminds me more of my grandmother than me though.  I can imagine her better than me asking the dogcatcher to wash, dry, and put up her dishes while she's stuck in a chair because she would be humiliated if her neighbor came over and saw them unwashed and her watching a soap opera.  

I have become obsessed with listening to books though.  I guess there are worse obsessions.

What else have I been doing?  Not much.  Just watching the girls when I can and getting them home from school.  They even came over and spent some time on the weekend because Emily and Ryan are desperate to get that kitchen finished.  You can already tell how nice it's going to be, and they are excited about it.

I think this is Emily's favorite part.  I have the plastic version of it stuck between my refrigerator and the wall, but this one can hold an amazing amount of stuff.

My poor man's version but still perfect for what I use it for:  Spices, baking things, and cat food.  I'm not sure what I would do without it.  

Ryan put a greenhouse window behind the sink last year, which was perfect for rooting cuttings and starting seeds, but it turned out to be a magnet for the new kitten.  He had a field day getting up there and turning over the little jars of water and doing all the cat things.  I'm not sure this will do much to keep Gus out, but extending the counter top into the window space is such a great idea.  No pesky window tracks to keep clean.  

The pantry is also a work of art.  It was already almost as big as my kitchen, and they could keep a ton of things in there, but now there's a prepping sink and a nice place to keep the coffee pot, plus all those drawers and shelves.  I think Emily is just as proud of the new Oxo storage containers as she is of anything.  I would love to have had matching containers for absolutely everything when I was that age and cooking a little bit.  

I'll see what pictures I can grab from the phone, but half my day is gone, and I've not even had breakfast.

A chattering squirrel lured Bowie out to the front porch where he found a little sunshine.  Sweet boy does love to be outside, but I worry about bobcats or whatever other things come into town sometimes.  

Layla took advantage of a temporarily empty basket to enjoy a safer vantage point.

Yesterday was the Walkathon to raise money for the PTSA.  Even with rain, all the kids seemed to be having fun.  There was a Wild West theme and a barbecue meal for the parents.  

This is the only Facebook picture I could find of the girls.  Katherine running, of course.  

Graysen enjoyed her basketball season, everything but the team's name.  The Sour Peppermints?  I think it was voted on but not by her.  It was a good time for them, and she made a couple of new friends.

Gus and Emily relaxing on a Sunday afternoon while the girls played at the apartment.

They brought their Calico Critters but no furniture, so they improvised with whatever they could find.

Don't ask.  No one knows why Snow White has been banished.

A no-longer-played-with horse stable became a cozy sleeping nook for someone along with a piece of practice crochet they found.  I guess that's why we never throw anything away.

No more time and so much happened.  The Win-Bins decided to start online Spanish lessons, and they invited me on the Family Plan.  I'm serious about it.  I remembered enough to read and understand enough to start on level 9, but I'll never be good at it.  It's too fast for me, and I can't think fast enough, but I enjoy it a lot, especially the phrase Yo soy cansada (I'm tired).  And that yo is pronounced Jo.  It makes it so much prettier.  

Tired and hungry. Hambrienta.  I don't remember learning that word.   It makes wish I had a hamburger for lunch.  

 I have more pictures stored away, but they'll have to come later along with correcting typos.  

Spring Break Week

 Spring Break means no change for me, except Emily took off work this week too, and I didn't see the kids for long periods. 

It's so hard to remember what happened this week, so I went back to last week and read mine and Emily's texts to each other to jog my memory.  

I reluctantly pulled out my tax forms and got logged into Turbo Tax to try to do my own this year.  It wasn't necessarily easy, but that's only because I couldn't follow instructions on the screen.  I just had to enter my 1099-Rs and 1099-INT this year.  The problem I had was getting a copy of the form onto Turbo Tax pages.  Once I found out that you could just type the information in, I was all set.  One page refused to advance because I had one item that needed review.  I went over and over it - there were only about 3 boxes to transfer - and then just left it for a bit.  When I came back, I realized that I had left off an account number from one of the boxes.  I didn't do that on the other ones.  

My favorite one was the Vanguard one where I went on line and told it to transfer to Turbo Tax.  Poof - there it was.  I only had to agree.  Today I do the Social Security one, the last one.  It was so hard to do manually last year, but I think I can plug in all the information and have it magically tell me what I want to know.  Here's hoping, because I've waited way to late.  I wonder if H&R Block is open tomorrow in case I fail.  

Otherwise with this rain and cold, I was content to do what I wanted to in the apartment.  It was so miserable that I decided to order Amazon Fresh instead of going across the parkway to Safeway.  That's pretty lazy, but I just don't care.  I think the prices might be better, and even with the tip, I come out even.  I also ordered cat food and cat litter and didn't have to haul those heavy boxes through the rain.  The cats and I had food and were totally content.  

Emily and I send pictures constantly by text, and sometimes I forget to down load them.  This is one I got over the weekend.  Katherine went to softball practice with friends, so they didn't get any good pictures, but here she looks pretty serious.  They say she can hit the ball and looks really cute in her uniform.  Little pink cleats and a purple glove.  What could be better?

I got a rare picture of Luna, the rescue kitty that didn't really enjoy coming into a house with active kids.  She stayed anxious all the time and ran from people until they decided to make her an outdoor cat, and she seems perfectly happy with her little heated igloo and critters to chase.  I think the raccoons are the only thing she doesn't like out there, but the new kitty and puppy staring at her through the glass door can't be fun either.

I love getting little glimpses into the girls' playtime instead of just hearing, "They're playing upstairs."  They do play so well together.  These pictures made my heart feel good.  They've collected the little Calico Critters over the past few years, and they have what's left of my venture into dollhouse miniatures back in the 80s.  I got a Michael's dollhouse kit and built it pretty much myself.  Mike had more patience so did the roof shingles and the hardwood floors, but I loved working on it.  I ended up needing stitches on a finger and having a friend come over and bail me out when the top floors would stay on the bottom one, but otherwise it was a good experience.  I love miniatures and was able to get a few things, but the furniture was about as expensive as full-sized furniture.  I did do some DIY things - like a little pumpkin, Christmas wreaths, and a pan of biscuits.  I also enjoyed needlepointing a couple of rugs and made some towels.  I guess they didn't make it through the years.  

The bathroom seems to be a popular gathering place.  I see the baby bed almost out of the picture.  it may be a dog kennel  I'm not sure.

That red "leather" chair was always my favorite, and I kind of wanted a big one in our house.

The little flowered rug is one I made.  I really had a lot more patience then.

Emily called and asked if I wanted to meet them at the park yesterday morning.  I think she was surprised that I did and said they were out front waiting for me.  It was so nice and warm-ish.  She went and got Woodrow to romp on the grass, and he just ran wild.  Dogs can't be off the leash at all unless there are no other dogs and no people around, so he mainly had to put up with the leash.

I walked home after a while because they all wanted to walk on the hiking trail, and that was not a biggie for me.  

I did pick up the girls during the afternoon for some time away from home.  I let them choose our outing, and they decided they wanted to stop at another park where there's a zip line.  There were no free benches, so I enjoyed sitting in the car in the sunshine watching them.

They immediately found some friends to play with.

Next, we went to the North Bend library.  It's a little bigger than ours, and they enjoyed looking for some books to take home.  They are so funny about not taking any books that they don't think they will love, like they're going to have to pay for them.  I told them I would take 10 books home and maybe one of them would be really good enough to finish.  They looked dubious and picked their two favorites.  I sneaked 3 more in that I thought they would like.  Mimi know best - or thinks she does!



Pictures are migrating to the wrong paragraphs, and I'm wasting valuable tax time, so I'll come back later and finish.