The Wedding Gift

Riley and I met Renee at Costco. I was going to try to find Rebecca (my new supervisor of one month) a wedding gift. She is getting married next Saturday, October 4th. We decided at the office to buy her something together and I took it upon myself to find the right gift. But it wasn't at Costco. We decided to go to Macy's where she has a bridal registry. So off to the mall we went...

At Macy's there were many things to choose from to buy. There were many things that were not too exciting but practical. However, she did ask for an expensive vase. So I bought the vase. I was glad to have the gift picked out and bought. I felt a lot off my shoulders. Lindsey will buy the card and we will be able to have it ready for this week.

The rest of the day I took care of the kids while Kari worked at night. She hasn't done that in a long time... work on Saturday night. She came over and stayed the night after her shift.

Time

I don't have much to share tonight as I write this on Thursday night before going to bed. Lately I have had many things to share; birthdays, anniversary, tonsils being taken out, and the beginning of school. But tonight, I've got nothing. I have racked my brain for a great thing to talk about, but still nothing. Sometimes that happens, I guess. Sometimes it isn't bad that there isn't much to talk about.

Yesterday was a day I worked at my desk getting prepared for the next few work days. We host a meeting this morning and I had to go out and buy food for the meeting. I also have a tailgate party that I must attend for a local high school tonight. Sunday I must be at the National College Fair in Seattle and Monday I am back to Seattle for an employee education fair. Then on Tuesday I will be at an other high school in the AM for a college fair... they serve us lunch. We will see what that is all about. So, I have a pretty busy schedule for a few days up ahead.

Next week September leaves us and October arrives. OK... what happened to September? I remember the Puyallup Fair a lot... and school beginning... now we are off into October. I will be complaining about the possibility of snow soon. With so many things keeping me busy... time has passed quickly.

Have a good weekend.

Breezy Autumn Day

Typical Seattle weather has returned and we are wearing our jackets now with a hood. I am surprised how quickly the weather returns to cooler weather. It takes forever to turn to warmer weather in the summer. It will be a nice change for mom and Ron when the come to visit in October.

Yesterday Dave appeared in the morning with a package and a card for our anniversary. I hadn't yet got my present ready so I told him that I would open later in the evening. We decided that we would use one of our birthday gift cards to Black Angus for dinner.

So, at 5 pm he came to the college and picked me up. We both had our gifts. After we ordered we opened gifts. An older African American woman was watching us across the aisle. She congratulated us and as we opened the gift, she was excited for us. It was fun. Dave had heard me say something about an alarm clock that puts the time on the ceiling, so he bought me one. At home he had a dozen red roses for me.

Dave loves watches. If a person could have an addiction for watches, he is a candidate. i didn't buy him a watch for his birthday but he bought himself two. But that doesn't mean anything... there are more watches out there. So, I bought him one in a style that he doesn't have yet. It has many of the feathers in it that he likes... brushed two toned metal etc. It is more dressy than many of his other watches. Luckily he loved it.

I also bought him a tie because Aaron has taken all his ties that he likes to wear at work. Dave was a typical dad, letting his son use his ties. One day I found a tie hanging on the the fence rail out in front of the house. The weather had wrinkled it a little. I discovered it was the favorite tie of both of them (originally Dave's). Now he has a tie of his own again.

Dave and Danna

Dave and Danna

September 24, 2005

We were married three years ago today. We have actually been together since the summer of 1999 when we started dating. We had met years earlier when we attended the same church after I first moved here from California. Kari had just graduated from high school. To get Kari's attention and support in finishing her high school, I had moved us to Gig Harbor and had just moved back to Kent. I had called Dave to see if I could get his help with my move. He and his wife had divorced and they had moved away too. It was that very weekend he too was moving back to Kent. I had just lost my father and gone to his funeral that summer too. Dave knew that I was upset and said that he wanted to get together to celebrate my birthday. His birthday was the week before mine, so I surprised him with a cake. Even though we only saw each other as "friends" because of how our relationship began... our first date was to the Canterbury Faire in Kent and then we decided to take up bike riding. Our favorite trail to ride is the trail in Orting along the river. We also began hiking. It took months before we actually kissed. So much as happened in the past 9 years and especially in the past 3 years.

Our 3rd Anniversary!

Serenity Now

I don't know about you guys, but I am afraid to watch the news these days. I try to keep up on what is happening in the markets and the big bail out etc. Oil prices. Hurricanes. The campaign for president... and I walked into the house last night from my event in Enumclaw feeling totally deflated. I was listening to talk radio on my 45 minute drive home. I heard the partisan parties blaming the other for the problems we are having on Wall Street. I heard one guy honestly put out the idea that if the Democratic candidate was a white man, then there wouldn't be a close race. That idea sounded ridiculous but who knows what the rest of the nation may think... I think he called it the "Bubba vote" . I thought... "we are in the hands of idiots... where people are still thinking like "Bubba" and the smart people on Wall Street aren't so smart; only greedy." All I could think of was that I was glad that I believed in God because if not for believing in God... I didn't think there was much to hope in. So, what do you do besides pray? How does a person not think about these things? Dave said maybe we should be ignorant and be in bliss. That didn't sound like a good idea. Sounds nice but a responsible person can't just ignore what is happening... since that is how we get into these things to begin with. I feel powerless. Most of us are just a spectator even though what has happened will affect our lives for a very long time. And I am not sure we have seen the worse of it yet.

So let me tell you a little about our weekend. Number one, it was raining hard on Saturday and it has been cool. Our first stop was to have dinner so we stopped in our at one of our favorite places in North Bend before going to the B&B.



Below is the fireplace in the North Bend Bar and Grill that we sat next to while having our dinner. It looks not only Northwestern put like Autumn so I thought I would include it in my post today.



We stayed at the Roaring River Bed and Breakfast. On the property there is a fishing cabin that they have fixed up and decorated with a fisherman theme. Unfortunately, my camera isn't working well but these were the best photos that I could come up with to show you. Below is a picture of the front door. When you step into the cabin there is a kitchen which you see here and a small living room with a pot belly stove. There is also a bathroom, a small bedroom, and a loft. Six people can stay there; 2 in the bedroom, 2 in the sofa bed, and two in the loft.

Below is a corner of the little bedroom. The lighting wasn't good... my camera isn't good. But you can see that they decorated with a country cabin theme.
I know that I sounded pretty depressed with the thoughts at the opening of this post. What we are going through is real and we should be feeling something; anger, confusion, depression etc. I also know that we "live between the lines"... the small moments that happen while we are living out our day. We can create, we can dream, we can laugh, we can have tea, we can pray, look at sunrises and sunset, we can "smell the roses", and we can visit each other. Have a day where you stop and realize those moments. HUGS

Welcome Autumn!

http://homespunblessings.net/

Thank You Judy for the Siggie!

Welcome to Autumn! Today classes begin at our college but I will not be there until around noon. I have to go out the the fair grounds (the last day was yesterday) and pick up our materials really early this morning. Then I am heading back to my house to wash the tablecloth and rest a little. Tonight I have a postsecondary night at Enumclaw High School. Later I will go into the college and make sure that my case of materials etc is up to date and ready for college fairs.

I will post some pictures about the Roaring River Bed and Breakfast that we went to over the weekend. The grounds there should be having some change of color in the trees. We will see.

My mom and Ron are coming on October 5th and going over to Lake Chelan for a the week. At this time of the year, there will be plenty of pretty drives, apples etc being harvest, and all the Octoberfest events going on. I will have plenty to tell you and show you those days of their visit.

Until tomorrow.... Have a great day!

Here is one of Judy's siggies that she made me. She is so wonderful to individualize them for us.

Sunday

Happy Sunday! And last day of Summer!

We are still gone but I will return tomorrow.