Pre-Mother's Day

 Started this last week and procrastinated.

The time for Emily to start stressing about what to get me.  So silly.  It's not like she doesn't give me stuff all through the year, but she feels the pressure this one weekend, and it makes me feel so bad.  She bought me a plant last week and sent me money by Venmo for some occasion when the girls were eating at my house - and just thoughtful things all throughout the year.  One Venmo was labeled PIZZA and the next one NOT PIZZA.  And I know if I need anything - ever - she will go out of her way to get it, so I feel special all year round.  Same with Elise.  She's always there with a cup of coffee if she thinks I would like one or an offer to make my bed or do my laundry.  Then if we go anywhere together, she's there with the checklist - glasses, purse, lists, water, garage opener and keys, cane just in case - and hauls them out for me.  Sometimes I call it hovering, but I don't mind it at all.  

So now that they've realized what day it's going to be Sunday, the suggestions are pouring in.  It's not even going to be that nice a weekend as far as weather.  So far, we're going to a lacrosse game for both girls in the same town on Saturday morning.  Then maybe eat lunch somewhere.  Or go get another plant at a nursery.  Or go check out a new-to-us park near where Mike's Tree is.  Or how about a movie and popcorn - my place or theirs.  As long as it's simple and doesn't involve much walking or standing, we can just do it all. 

Elise and I drove to Kent for a meeting Thursday, and it was a nice but cold day.  It was one of those beautiful days that we will look back on and remember as a day when no one was rushing the other or being irritable at something.  We took care of business and got home safely.  What more can you ask?

Right before we got home, we had a massive backup of mainly huge trucks and impatient cars, but again we had nowhere to be and could enjoy a little of the work being done along the way - the widening and/or adding of lanes over the mountain and hopefully a safer route.  We again identified the beautiful yellow bushes growing along all the highways as Scotch Broom.

I can't even remember when this was just an intersection with no construction.  It's long overdue, but it's also one of the few roads to get traffic from Seattle to everywhere else without getting on overcrowded interstates, so it's pretty popular.  The problem is that we just want to get home a few blocks away and not sit in line with cars waiting to go to south.   

This was taken several weeks ago.  I-90 is the horizontal road in the picture, and straight ahead is Snoqualmie Parkway, the way to get home.  I do like that we're just a few miles from an interstate, but it will be nice when it's all set up, and I have an inkling of what to do on it. 

This is what it's supposed to look like when it's finished.

The videos make it look simple, but I have a feeling it's going to take me awhile to get used to it.  Or I may just take the scenic back roads if I don't have someone else to drive me.  

I did get to see my first lacrosse game Saturday.  Graysen didn't play her game, so it was just Katherine, Emily, and me, and we didn't have far to drive.  I got all settled into my chair and prepared to learn.  I did learn some things, like why it's okay to run BEHIND the goal and then back out on the playing field.  These girls are in their first year, so they're not anxious to pass the ball once they get it securely in their little baskets.  Sometimes they'll catch a pass but not often.  Then it's anyone's ball, and they fight for it.  Once it's scooped up, they will run as fast as they can toward the goal to try to get it in.  Why give it up when it's yours, right?  

I think they had a good time.  The pictures are of Kate and her friend Ellis after the game.  I don't think anyone got hurt at all this time.  

The rain held off, and it was a nice game.  I think we tied once but ended up losing, but nobody much cares.

I did enjoy it, and it was nice just to enjoy the fresh air and see friends that I haven't seen in a while.  I'm not sure if there are any more games or actually when the season starts again, but I'll find out. 

And then we settled in for a cold rainy weekend, perfect for snuggling under blankets and staying inside. 

Yesterday (Monday) was unremarkable until 3:00 when first Graysen and then Katherine came over after school.  You know someone wants to be there when they accidentally get off the bus and walk home, only to run back the whole way when they find out they can come to Mimi's.  We talked about the lack of snacks and had a long discussion about how to get them.  We ended up going to the grocery store with a stop on the way home for a frozen yogurt at Swirl, but for some reason, the door was locked, and it was closed.  Strange......  Good thing we had ice cream in our grocery supplies!  We did nothing special the rest of the time but watch a Lego show and a few cat videos and plan a sleepover for (maybe) Friday night.  

Today (Tuesday) was one of my days off when the girls have activities after school.  Noreen and I had made reservations for a Retirement and Estate Planning talk at the library, thinking we might pick up some pointers to make us understand our money better.  It was a good talk, and we heard a few interesting things, but I think we knew most of what he said.  It was a chance for folks to sign up for financial planning through that office and ask questions, but we didn't linger.  Some of the stuff was out of our league!  Our "estates" are not in the million-dollar range and in need of an estate lawyer.  We're just looking to get an affordable monthly rent and still have enough to enjoy life a little.  

What I did gain from it was that I was able to walk to the library.  It's only about 4 blocks, but with my strange and undiagnosed weakness and fatigue, I'm almost afraid to venture out in case I get too tired to continue.  About halfway there, we found some chairs and tables outside Infusion where I sat down for about 5 minutes, and then we continued on our way.  The trip home was more downhill, so I made it just fine without stopping.  It gives me hope that I'm somehow making some progress.  It was helpful to have Noreen walking beside me just in case!  And it was nice to have a nap when I got home.  Tomorrow I might feel like I can walk to the Swirl and get that yogurt we missed yesterday.  

Looking to see if I have any unposted pictures in my camera.

The little local theater in North Bend has this coming up.  I watched this more times than I wanted to when Emily and Elise were growing up.  Now hopefully they'll get to share it with the girls.

As Katherine got ready to leave the other day, I happened to noticed all the things she has hanging from her bookbag.  A hat, a stuffed cat I made years ago, keychains, bracelets, a soccer decal, and everything cats.  My favorite, though, is that giant kitty paw.  You just want to reach out and touch it.  I think she's getting a new bookbag for her birthday, but I know she'll miss that one.  I bet the kitty paw will go on the new one.

Just ignoring the hairdos in front of us, this is the sweetest picture we got of the 4th grade musical.  

S

She sang enthusiastically and played in the marimba band and even had a session on the drums, which is what she says she wants to play in middle school.  

Emily and the girls with friends at a Mariners game.  

Trying to attract the Jumbotron cameras.

Two sets of sisters.

A Hint of Spring

We did have a beautiful day on Friday, and Elise, Emily, and I headed to Carnation for the annual plant sale.  As I mentioned before, we've gone almost every year since we found out about it, and it's rained every single time.

This time was an exception. We didn't leave until around 10:00 and had blue skies the whole time.  I said I didn't care if we found anything we wanted to buy or not.  It was just worth it to drive over and enjoy the day.  The cherry trees have almost all stopped blooming, but all the others are either blooming or leafing out with their pale green leaves.  We passed a lavender field and another flower farm that was pretty. Usually on this road you can find a booth of fresh flowers for sale, but we didn't see one today.

When we got to Carnation, we were a little disoriented.  After turning left and looking for for a parking place, we realized we weren't on the right street.  It's a teeny little town, so we only had to drive around about 3 blocks to find that the place where the sale usually takes place had been replaced by an independent living  building and parking area.  We did see the tents next door though so parked and made our way there.

I'm glad we weren't really needing a lot of stuff, because the whole area was maybe half the size of prior years.  I didn't take one picture there, but we did find enough to fill up the back of Emily's car.  I got some dill, Italian oregano, and anise, but I was hoping to find some pretty parsley and cilantro.  Although I had decided not to grow tomatoes again, it was too tempting to see the little plants and not bring a couple of them home.  Now to find a sunny patch.

Elise was really wanting some New Guinea impatiens and found only some white ones, but the leaves are so pretty.  I can't even remember the other things I bought.  A yellow begonia and some airy flower that was a pretty coral.  Emily got me a few things for Mother's Day, and I had enjoyed about enough of standing up, so we headed home feeling pretty good about our choices.  Elise and I are so limited in our space that we don't need much.  I have them all on the table now trying to match them with the pots I already have.  It's cool again, so I'm not in that much of a hurry to get out there and plant them.  I'll have pictures then.  

Emily had to get home in time to pick up Graysen and her friend Maya and take them to Swirl for a frozen yogurt while waiting for Katherine's school to dismiss.  Then they all went for manicures.  Graysen and Maya had a Hawaiian-themed dance that night, and they were getting ready for that.

 Gray chose the lavender with the darker purple flower on the thumbs, and Katherine got what looks like clear with a white flower.  I can't tell if Maya's color was blue, purple, or silver, but they all looked pretty cute.  

Emily sent me a few pictures after she got ready and picked up Ellie.  From the school pictures, it looked like lots of the kids were more casual than they were, but I love to see them "get pretty" and feel pretty and just have fun.  I don't have many details, but they did have a DJ and karaoke as well as pizza and shaved ice and organized activities.  Some of these pictures are at home and on the way in front of Mount Si, and I got a couple from the Facebook ones.

There were two lacrosse games on Saturday in Seattle in the rain, so I still haven't seen a game or really a practice.  I have no idea about the rules or what the object it.  Graysen's and Katherine's teams played at the same time, and Ryan and Emily settled in between the fields and swiveled around to catch the action.  Both teams won 15-5, and Katherine got a goal.

On Sunday, both teams played in Fall City but at different times.  Gray did well, and their team won a close game by 1 point.  Kate's team won big again,

and she got another goal.  I guess it's called a goal.  She scored anyway.  Maybe this video will work.  From my point of view, she comes in from behind the goal - in the pink shoes - gets surrounded by defensive players, exchanges jabs with the other players, and tosses it into the net.  I'm sure there's more to it than that.

On Sunday afternoon, I walked down to Mary's and played Scrabble with her for about an hour.  It was fun to talk to her and get all caught up.  She's planning to start Mah-Jong lessons on the 21st at the Y - right up the street - and I've signed up for a review and relearning classes.  I haven't played in four years, so there will be a lot of relearning.  It was another pretty sunny day, and the walk there and back was not too far for me at all.  According to phone calls - accidental and otherwise - her daughter Celia had given Emily some plants, and Em and Ryan were out working in the yard.  I drove over there and watched a little bit, including roly-poly bugs and centipedes - then brought the girls home with me for a couple of hours. 

Elise made them some little pizzas with cheese and pineapple, corn-on-the-cob, and grapes which was a very tasty supper.  And a piece of their leftover lemon cake from Thursday.

Gray found a Bible story book and was reading to Katherine.  Usually, they pick the stories with the most swords and action, but I think I heard her reading about the disciples.   Sweet girls.

I've updated my calendar with the Mah-Jong lessons and found out one of the dates coincides with a follow-up visit with my doctor, but I'll only miss about 30 minutes.  Noreen and I have also signed up for a retirement planning seminar at the library to see if we can start making heads or tails of our finances.  

I'll have the girls after school, but until then I think I'll try to get those plants planted and eat breakfast.  

Emily sent me this old video from maybe 2022.  We could never figure out what she meant by "junk."  Maybe several?

First Day of May

 This seems like a perfect day all around and a perfect day to break my silence on this blog.  

It's the day we weather followers have been looking forward to for a couple of weeks.  High of 77 today and 70 tomorrow, and the rest of the 10 days seem wonderful - and dry.

Noreen and I have plans to go sit by the pool this morning when the sun gets high enough.  At least, that's what we talked about.  We don't feel obligated to stick by a plan if we are enjoying the present.

We did follow through with going to Ace Hardware Monday to look for some plants to start off our porch beautification plans.  We aren't quite ready for a nursery, and Noreen needed a tension rod!  That was a nice short trip to North Bend, and we did find a few things.  I'll venture out and take some pictures when I get dressed.

Katherine stops by at 8:45 or so on Thursdays to walk to school from here, and I love that little bit of alone time with her.  

She is just growing up so much.  So conversational.  So sweet.  She had a litany of injuries she needed to show me - like the waist-area bruise she got from the monkey bars at school yesterday, bruises on her legs from something, and a red bump on her shoulder that made the straps of her bookbag uncomfortable.  I found a perfectly sized bandaid and some Neosporin and patched that right up.  We stood at the door for a while and discussed the weather and how Wuffie was sitting in the park across the street watching us, and then she headed up the street to school.  

I couldn't resist a soft, "Look both ways before crossing," even though it normally makes her roll her eyes.  Lately, she said, "I literally cross three streets every single day."  This morning though, she turned around and smiled and waved, looked both ways, and ran across Kinsey.  Then she turned around and walked backwards, waving until she was out of sight.  My heart!  

This is going to be her month.  In 28 days, she will be 10 years old, and I enjoy every minute with her.  I'll try to post the pictures that come up in my memories.

She had just had her first birthday in Palm Springs and was just on the verge of walking.  What a fun trip.  What a fun baby!

Super special time she got to spend with PopPop.  I wish they could have known each other longer.

Sleepy or pensive?  The old flowered loveseat has finally gone away.  It was special to me for so many years but just didn't fit in here and was getting pretty worn.

I'm lucky enough lately to have both girls come after school for a couple of hours on Monday and Wednesday, and sometimes several hours on Friday.  

Sometimes they'll get out their homework and do a little bit, knowing they have more time that night for it if necessary.  Yesterday, Graysen did some of her math review, and we all worked on a poem Katherine had to answer questions about.  I loved seeing that it was "The Road Not Taken," by Robert Frost.  We had a long discussion about it.  Then there was mac and cheese, of course, made by them for the most part, a little TV watching with Aunt CeCe, and chatting about Graysen's upcoming Friday night Dance.  What?  I'm not ready for this.  She's wearing a dress and getting her nails done.  Katherine might have a playdate after that and then lacrosse on Saturday.  I hope I get to watch one of their games.  I really want to learn what it's all about.  

I was tired at the end of the day, as usual, although I did almost nothing all day except planting the flowers I got and doing minimal housework.  

I just made a chicken salad for lunch with some sweet pickles, celery, eggs, and mayo.  It was not bad at all!  

I hate to be totally useless, but there is such a limit to what I can do.  I took out the plants I got Monday and made plans for where I'm going to put them and put some dirt in two pots.  I brought the car floor mats in to vacuum - but didn't vacuum them - and went to pick up the mail.  I walked an extra half a block to look at the pretty spring greenery.  Noreen had to go to Bellevue this morning, so we didn't sit outside, but there's still time and sunshine if we want to this afternoon.

Here are a few pictures I took while walking.

I forgot to take pictures of the two cherry trees at the end of our alley right by the mailboxes, but this is all that's left of those beautiful blooms.  

Here are some of the trees in downtown Snoqualmie at the Railway Museum.  And maybe in Kent or Issaquah.  They were everywhere and amazing.

This is one in North Bend just as it started raining one day.

Walking back to the apartment from the mailbox.  I never get tired of this view of the mountains.  It's fun to see my old upstairs balcony down the alley.  I loved sitting out there with the girls so much when we first moved here.

    

The little sidewalk between Noreen's apt and mine.  I'm jealous of her little rock wall.

     

The prettiest rhododendron in the neighborhood.

 

My place on the left and Noreen's on the right.  We have some work to do.

Residents don't get to plant their own stuff in the beds, but I campaigned for leaving this hosta that comes back every year and somehow hasn't been bothered by the deer.

I'm still aggravated that they pulled up some dead boxwoods and replanted these little new things.  They're pretty, but I'm not sure why they left those scraggly old ones that they prune into little boxes.  You just have to go along with it.

Noreen has painted her planter boxes and is ready to start relaxing outside.  We now have a choice.  If we want a little sunshine, we'll go to her porch, and if we get hot, we will go to my shady retreat. 

And this is the same sidewalk between our apartments with a pretty little Japanese maple on Noreen's side.  We have a new family moving in above my garage with 3 elementary-age children, so the girls might be having quite a few to play with soon.

The only sun I get is around back outside the garage, so I planted a red geranium and 3 ruffly pink petunias in this pot which was here when I moved in - full of heather.  I always have to have a red geranium!  Those yellow miniature petunias are just waiting there until I find something else to put in their pot tomorrow.  Looking for some white bacopa and creeping Jenny.

I got this strawberry vanilla hydrangea last year for Mother's Day and tried to get it to bloom on my shady porch.  It didn't, but it stayed healthy.  I put it around back about a month ago and was rewarded with these new leaves.  If I can remember to water it enough, it should do really well there.  

It's supposed to look like this when it blooms.

The primroses I found at Safeway have brightened up the porch during the cooler months and look healthy.  I'll find a few little things to add to this pot tomorrow too.

 Happy and content.