Reading

 I'm obsessed again with reading.  Or listening.  I can hardly read in the winter because I get too drowsy and go to sleep.  For some reason, in the spring and summer, I get a lot of pleasure in sitting outside holding a book.  Just my little quirks.

I ended up spending the $3 and rented Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.  I think it's the first time I've ever read a book and then watched the movie the same or next day.  I loved both of them.  The book was more detailed, of course, and took a completely different path with one of the main characters.  The movie was more forgiving of the mother, who seemed a little distant in the book.  I loved the city scenes described in the book come to life.  While I don't think I would enjoy living in the middle of a big city, I am fascinated by it and love knowing about it.  The book made me sad.  The movie made me cry.  I guess that's a good enough review.

I started Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.  I'm about a quarter of the way in, and I'm guessing it takes place in the future where these characters are destined to be "donors," and not just blood donors - vital organ donors.  Spooky.  

From the Booker Prize-winning author of The Remains of the Day and When We Were Orphans, comes an unforgettable edge-of-your-seat mystery that is at once heartbreakingly tender and morally courageous about what it means to be human.
Hailsham seems like a pleasant English boarding school, far from the influences of the city. Its students are well tended and supported, trained in art and literature, and become just the sort of people the world wants them to be. But, curiously, they are taught nothing of the outside world and are allowed little contact with it.
Within the grounds of Hailsham, Kathy grows from schoolgirl to young woman, but it's only when she and her friends Ruth and Tommy leave the safe grounds of the school (as they always knew they would) that they realize the full truth of what Hailsham is.
Never Let Me Go breaks through the boundaries of the literary novel. It is a gripping mystery, a beautiful love story, and also a scathing critique of human arrogance and a moral examination of how we treat the vulnerable and different in our society. In exploring the themes of memory and the impact of the past, Ishiguro takes on the idea of a possible future to create his most moving and powerful book to date.

I watched for my planner to arrive all day yesterday and found it's delayed another day.  Usually I have everything all ready for at least January by now.  I also watched and willed all the snow to melt.  It rained all day long and did make a dent in the piles.  The wind was fierce, and it's still raining at 2:40 a.m.  I have hopes of getting out and walking by myself to the mailbox and to get a haircut.  I won't know how to dress with temps in the high 40s.

Since I broke my wrist the day before my last 6-month dental appointment, I had to cancel it and had just not made another one.  Then the holiday, then the snow.  Then came the tooth sensitivity which sent me straight to the phone.  I have to have my hot and cold drinks and hot soup.  It would also be nice to crunch on some solid food too here and there.  I took some Tylenol and went to bed early, not that my tooth hurt so badly but because I was hungry and didn't want to risk bothering it.  I had a lovely 6 hours of sleep and am now awake, as usual, in the middle of the night.  Bowie came over and lay down against my pillow and stared at me awhile, but he's back asleep now.

Elise made me a cup of a really good herbal tea.  I'll have to find out what it was.  I had to laugh at how she "steeped" it.  People do their own things, but this is funny.  

One of my favorite Christmas gifts:

I'm going to read some of my neglected blogs now and try to get some inspiration for organizing my sewing room closet.  What a mess, that whole room.  I'll go in there and stand with a handful of ribbons, some science experiment stuff from the girls' bins, a bunch of old cross-stitch and quilting patterns and just not want to keep them all any more.  I'm trying to see into the future and now what the girls will be interested in and want to have on hand.  We have so little time during the school year, but maybe we can sort out some of their interests in the summer.  I read and sewed when I was younger, but I didn't have their video games and watches for making phone calls and parks and friends all over town, all the arts and crafts things they could ever want, vacation adventures, and thousands of Legos.  In spite of it all, they still seem to get joy in coming to my house and spending time with me.  I'm going to enjoy that while I can!

Another New Beginning

 I can't remember when I've ever skipped posting for a whole month, especially December.  It's not that it was a bad month; it's just the end of a blah year.  I'm one year out from breaking my shoulder and 3 months from breaking my wrist, and for the first time in a year I'm feeling optimistic about that right arm.  I can finally do almost everything the same with just a little weakness and some twinges here and there.  Starting off this January is 1000% better than the way 2021 started.  I asked Emily if we even had a Christmas last year, and no one really remembers.

I still have the lingering anxiety, but I have to admit that it seems to have run its course too.  I've neglected to follow up with my primary doctor, and once I do that and find out what else is wrong with me, I might change my mind!  

I don't really want to take the time to write anything right now but just kind of make a pledge to write down a few of the interesting things I want the girls to remember about our time together.  Their family has had a magic Christmas this year, and I've been caught up in some of it but not all and just sat back and enjoyed the enthusiasm and the joy.  I'm glad they made it special in spite of having the house halfway through the renovation and the what seems like month-long snowfall.  

I'm sitting here in the middle of the night listening to the drip, drip of rain melting all that snow, ice, and slush, and it sounds so good.  It's been beautiful but just soooo cold and dangerous (for me).  Every year, I get a little more confident about getting out and walking on the stuff, but I'm never sure what lies underneath.  I hear Dr. Marshall's last words in November:  You cannot fall again!  

I don't disagree.  

This was how it looked before dark yesterday, and it's rained all night.  

There were rumors of another big snowfall, but so far nothing.  We need a break!  School was closed Monday and Tuesday, and the girls had picked up Emily's sore throat and sniffles and were out today.  Hopefully, they'll get back tomorrow.

I had such a good day yesterday, and it was nothing special, just like I like it.  I got ALL the laundry done - mine and some of Elise's.  I got the clean sheets and ironed pillowcases back on the bed, and it was a good feeling all day to know I wouldn't have to fight that corner of the sheet that kept popping up last week.  After all that, I only slept four hours and am up at 11.

I cleaned and organized slowly, trying to figure out what I'm going to do with the sewing room.  It's become office, sewing, and kids' craft room and a place for Elise to keep her stuff when she is here.

I had a few nice phone calls and emails.  Tom came and put in the new part for my ice maker.  He's coming back tomorrow to check, and I think he's going to find out it doesn't work. I don't see any ice yet.  

My upstairs neighbors, Linda and Wes, are always there to help out, and I let him pull my garbage cans down to the street in hopes the waste management trucks would run.  It's been two weeks!  They didn't show up, but we read about a collection site at the Community Park, so Ryan came and got my five bags of overdue garbage and took it.  So thankful for that!  I still have a big bin of recycling, but that doesn't smell, so I don't mind waiting another week.  

After I took down the Christmas decorations, I'm really feeling good about not having so much "stuff" out on the tables.  I just like the feeling of space and clean!

I'm enjoying so much the little cabinet I put together with Ryan's help.  It takes some of the burden of storage off my little kitchen, and it looks cute, I think!

I'll keep the girls' snacks and dishes here, so they can get to them easily.  Also boxes of coffee and whatever else seems appropriate.

We'll have to see if it becomes a too-convenient place to hang out!

 

There's a little drawer just perfect for straws, trivets, napkins, and things.

This was after it was all dressed up for our little neighbor party.

It was just the best night.  Carly and her parents and baby sister came down and visited a while.  The three girls stood in the kitchen and ate way too much, and the grown-ups enjoyed a little time for getting to know each other.  No other pictures, unfortunately.

One of Carly's gifts to the girls was a little make-it-yourself terrarium, and they had a ball working on it.  It is really cute.

Graysen showing it to me on our Duo call yesterday.

Emily is in the background making pralines and sent me some to sample.  I have NO complaints and asked for her recipe.  They are better than the ones I used to make many years ago.

Katherine's latest obsession is Legos, and she was working on this treehouse when I was there on Christmas Day.

I recognized the almost finished product in the above picture of the terrarium.  It needs leaves.  Way too complicated for me!

  

I've read two books since the beginning of the year.  I kept seeing Gone Girl recommended, and although I read it years ago, I forgot what it's all about.  I downloaded a copy and listened to it and remembered parts of it.  It was good, but I still don't like the ending.  I wanted revenge!

I also just finished Extremely Loud and Excessively Close by Jonathan Foer.  I'm trying to get out of my rut in reading and explore things less familiar. I don't like writing reviews, but this is an excellent review, now that I've realized it's a movie with Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock.  https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/extremely-loud-and-incredibly-close-2012

I have to decide now whether I want to spend the $2.99 and watch it now rather than waiting for it to be free on Amazon Prime or Netflix.  

The cats have no trouble sleeping, so I'm going to give it another try.

Busy Week in November

 

I've been creeping around my little place picking up little pinecones and decorations the cats have knocked off tables until I've decided to call the fall holidays over.  We're over the pumpkin spice candle and into the iced gingerbread cookies now.  

These cookies were a hit.  Our neighbor Wes is always bringing us something from TJs, and this box didn't last long!  The girls say it's the best cookie ever!

I also ordered this set of Swiss Mix flavored chocolate from Target for December after-school warm-ups.  It's packaged so nicely I hate to open it.

I'm getting myself psyched up for real winter and finding things that will make it better.  I even got some new warm boots for that afternoon walk.

I don't see any forecasts of snow any time soon, but it can't be worse than this awful week of rain and wind we've just had.  Just horrible.  I would have to leave 30 minutes early just to get a parking space closer to the school than my apartment and then sit there and freeze and listen to the wind while waiting for them.  I really worried about those big old trees dropping a limb on my car.  Traffic is then a mess, and we still got wet just getting into the car with all their stuff. 

We had sunshine yesterday though, and it was so welcome. 

 For the next four days, the kids get out at 12:15, and yesterday the book fair set up outside under the covered area for last-minute shopping.  Emily and Ryan had teacher-parent conferences, so I got to take them.

The had their little purses and were ready to go at 1:00.

That little moss-covered wall is impossible to resist, and the girls always have to walk on it.  I saw some of the landscapers this week, and they did mention that they're going to start working on our street this year.  Heaven knows, it needs work. I don't even have the wall in front of my unit.  It's just squishy grass.

The girls are passing by a daycare center, and I feel so lucky on two counts here.  I get to enjoy these leisurely strolls any time I want to and have for the past five years, and they are not confined behind those bars.  It's a great daycare center and much needed here, but I'm so glad I didn't miss this precious time with these girls.  Soon they'll be too grown-up to walk with me.

I'm not sure why I forgot to take any pictures at the book fair.  I guess we were too busy looking and greeting friends and making decisions on how to spend their money.  I even ran into a friend, Liz, who introduced me to her granddaughter as her "only friend in Snoqualmie."  She lives in Redmond and comes to visit her family on the weekend.

It was extra fun to get a chance to play together on the playground without a ton of other kids.  I love it that they enjoy playing together so much.  It's made first grade easier to adjust to for Katherine having a big sister there.

Their purchases were well thought out, and they were just thrilled at the things they got, coming in just under their designated amounts.

Graysen was thrilled over this chocolate-scented calculator.  Go figure.  She says one of her friends has one and it's cool.  It actually worked, but when we got home it didn't.  I was about to mark it up to a waste of money when I read that it was solar powered.  Oh, well.  It did work under a lamp though.  I think the novelty of it is enough for her.

And it's vaccine time for all of us.  Emily got her booster shot last weekend and had a reaction just like last time except much less severe.  Thank goodness she's over it now.

I got mine on Wednesday.  The Snoqualmie Valley Hospital is so close and has car vaccines, so I made an appointment and just drove in and followed the signs.

It wasn't a long wait, and it was easy as could be.  I drove into the waiting area and waited my 15 minutes and went home.   I had no reactions whatsoever to my two regular vaccines - Pfizer - but I got the Moderna booster, and when I took my Band-Aid off, I saw that I had what's called Covid arm.  It may have something to do with taking blood thinners too, but there was definitely a little knot at the injection site and some mild itching.  I'm glad I had read about it earlier and didn't worry.  I believe it's better now, and I'm all done for a while.

The hardest thing was letting the girls get their first vaccine.  It was a no-brainer for the adults, but letting those little girls get theirs was harder.  There was an event at Mount Si High School today, and Emily and Ryan took them.  They were pretty excited and felt like they knew what was happening and that they were doing their part to try to get rid of this horrible pandemic.  They again ran into friends and got lollipops, and when they just called, they were stopping at Starbucks for another surprise.  I feel like nobody cared enough about me!!

Our first polio vaccine way back in the '50s wasn't nearly as much fun, but it turned out to be a miracle drug.  We were lined up at school and walked to the health department where we got a sugar cube with the vaccine on it.  We may have gotten a lollipop, but probably the sugar was enough for us!

I'm feeling a little emotional after all that and praying that there will finally be an end - or at least a slow-down - in the disease and that these kids will grow up unafraid.  They have learned so much though in these few years and learned how to sacrifice and to bounce back from hardships.  

While not "blood kin to us," my brother- and sister-in-law lost a precious member of their family this week.  Chad Morris, Kathy & Alan's nephew, of Andalusia died last Sunday and will leave a big hole in their hearts.  So young, so sad.

Holidays are still hard for us too, missing Mike always and all our parents.  We'll just do the best we can and make it a time for being grateful for what we do have.  Our first vegan Thanksgiving - but with dressing somehow.  I won't miss the turkey myself.

And It Rains and Rains

I took this picture as I left to pick up the girls from school Friday at 1:30.  It's not dark and gloomy at all, but the rain is so hard that it soaks us through by the time we get home.  So miserable!

Before we do anything, we get all our wet things in the dryer and then turn on the fireplace and have hot chocolate.  Makes it nice and cozy.  This is the wettest fall I can remember since I've been living here.

Just around the corner and down the parkway is Snoqualmie Falls, a pretty big and beautiful waterfall, the thing that draws so many people to our area.  

This is how it looks on a normal day.

And this was taken yesterday.  It was posted on our community page by my friend Jaime, but I don't know if she's the one who took the picture.  

The girls had heard at school that we were in danger of having floods in the area, and they wanted to "go to the flood."  Luckily, we live on a ridge and are not in danger of much damage, although the low spots fill up pretty fast.  It's down in the old town of Snoqualmie where the river runs through the town that the real damage happens, and that's not a fun thing. There's an 89 to 100% chance of rain today and the next seven days - except for Wednesday - so I don't even want to think how bad things are going to get.  I worry most about landslides and trees falling.  I have to get out to go to OT on Tuesday and to get my booster shot Wednesday, but otherwise I'm not going to go farther than the school and library.

When we first get home from school and get dry and have snacks, we work on the girls' math homework pages.  It's nothing assigned but just some extra stuff we're throwing at them.  It's as much for me to keep one step ahead of them too.  That and reading some.  Given their choice, they would do something on some screen - a movie, app, game - anything - and it's so hard to find things that interest them as much as what they can find on a computer or phone.  

We went digging in the game cabinet when Carly got here yesterday and decided to finally get out one of my last year's Christmas presents:  Cat Lady Old Maid.  

It's enough just to look at these cats and their expressions but mainly their names.  Playing the game is secondary to just enjoying the cats.

We are pretty unconventional in our game playing.  Graysen and Carly sat on the floor, and Katherine and I sat at the table.  They don't mind the inconvenience of getting up and coming over to draw and discard.  We don't really keep up much with turns except for the one with the Old Maid.  She's the one who is always thrusting her hand in your face and saying, "Draw a card!"  After every draw, Carly will take her handful of cards and run into another room and lay them out to see if she has any matches and then come back.  I love it.

I ended up as the Old Maid, just as I planned!  I can actually see everyone's cards or notice how prominently they display the old lady, so I always seem to draw her, much to the delight of all the others.  It's the least I can do!

Layla's opinion of that game.

They later found an old tea set in the cabinet and asked if they could have a tea party.  I gave permission, and they just did it by themselves.  They only asked where the sugar was and got it out themselves and then wanted to know if they could add grapes to their "tea."  Water mixed with sugar and one grape in a cup.  Not your typical tea party.

When Ryan picked up the girls at 5:00, the sky was very interesting.  I was so glad to be headed inside for the night.  

I also ordered these picture hangers from Amazon a couple of weeks ago.  I'm sure you can get them anywhere.  I have a couple of pictures that are heavy, and these were promised to hold 45 pounds, not that mine are that big.  Emily and I spent a good bit of time placing and marking where I wanted the pictures, but Ryan hasn't had time to hang them, so I was looking for something easy enough for me to do.

Elise and Nathan came by for a few hours last weekend, and they insisted on hanging the pictures.  Using the markings and the Claw hangers, Nathan managed to place them perfectly in just a few minutes.  It seems like he just placed them on the wall and pressed hard with his thumb.  Amazing!  He used all five of them, so I'm going to get a few more and finish hanging the rest by myself.

Susan brought me those two pictures when she moved in August, and I really like them here.  I know I need curtains - or something - but I'm afraid the cats would mess them up jumping on and off the window sill.  I need to get some bird feeders out in that area to give them something to watch.

And the clothes hamper is a success.  When I opened it and saw the size, I was almost certain it wasn't going to fit, but here it is with an inch to spare.

I put a plastic bag inside to protect it from the damp towels and bathcloths.  I guess the wrinkles will disappear with time, but it's fine with me the way it is.

It blocks two cubbies, but they are empty right now while I'm still figuring out where to put what.

I like having my masks and lanyards on the top along with my glasses and the few necklaces I wear.  My little weights are on the next shelves along with the hair dryer and hair stuff.  Then the rest is reserved for extras from the bathroom.  The bathroom door is just to the right, so I've gotten one step closer to getting settled in.  

Pajamas and underwear are in a chest in the same closet along with some coats and hanging things, and all my hanging clothes and shoes are in the other closet.  It works!

Soccer tournament this weekend.  Graysen's team.

Katherine is like me.  A soccer tournament in the cold rain is not exactly where she wants to be, but she's cute anyway.