A Fun Week...

We had the pleasure of having our niece and nephew (Glen's kids) stay with us this past week as they relocate from Scottsdale allllll the way up to Anchorage! Glen is taking over as the Executive Chef of the Anchorage Sheraton. They arrived on Saturday and Glen headed out with Jasmine the dog as his co-pilot for a 4-day journey in the car.

Due to some camera shyness, I didn't take a lot of pictures of my houseguests this week. I didn't want them to feel like I was documenting every minute of their stay, so we just lived life in the moment. But this is a shot I just had to have: Allison and Cody (October 9, 2009)

If you're going to come visit us in Seattle, chances are you're going to take the 41 second elevator ride to the top of the Space Needle. And then you're going to pose for me with the beautiful view in the background. There's no getting around it.

It was a tad cloudy for us on Friday, but it was still pretty. Hayley was off school, so she went with us. We toyed with the idea of heading over to Pike Place Market, but we knew we didn't have time. Before leaving the Needle, I did manage to talk the kids into posing for one of my favorite shots. Trust me: The only way to get this shot is to lay on the ground and have the subjects practically stand on top of me. They thought they looked stupid, but I believe I was the one laying on the ground!! Yesss, yesss. (Spoken in true Stewie fashion!)

Cody and Allison have been such troopers this week. They've cheered at two of Hayley's volleyball matches that frankly did not go so well and sat through two of Brian's bowling matches (they went better.) I dragged them with me on mundane errands, but we managed to get some serious shopping goals met! Cody and I finally tracked down a sharpening stone (from an old man in the mall that tried so hard to disuade us from buying one!) and then Cody sharpened my knives (even though the old man said he wouldn't be able to do it. Take THAT old man!) Dan and Cody planted a tree and Allison and I sewed pajama pants. Top Chef Cody wowed us with his Banana's Foster and they both fell in love with Willie Lunchmeat and Abby. And Josie Grandma, for the record, Cody agrees that Molly is a big barrel kitty! And she is not amused. We even took the kids to Mass tonight and then we all pigged out at Mongolian Hot Iron Grill before heading home for Drumsticks and a super funny game of Scattergories. (World Leader Bo Bice anyone? Historical figure Prince...yeah, Little Red Corvette Prince? Apple Schmear as a sport? How about the Liberty Statue? Meal-making as a hobby? Ping Pong Showdown...teethguard...karpool, krak and Khloe Kardashian? Anybody...anyone???) Oh my goodness, there was some serious laughing at the game table tonight.

So, tomorrow we've planned a huge farewell breakfast: Diane's scratch pancakes, bacon and sausage (because who can really decide between the two??) and eggs. Coffee, natch. We'll get the kids packed up and head down to Seatac. I don't want to say goodbye to my "kids" but I will. Facebook enables us to keep in touch in an instant and besides, they're starting a new adventure in their new home. We wish Glen, Cody and Allison the best of luck and they know they're always welcome to stay with us again.

It’s a BIG DAY in these parts…

Today is Hayley’s first day of school! Yep, she’s had a nice long summer and has been banking sleep hours in preparation for what is coming up…and that would be lots of homework and lots of volleyball!

Hayley has opted to take part in a school program called ORCA. It is part of the Running Start program in which high school Juniors and Seniors can earn college credits while earning their high school diploma. Instead of attending classes at the high school, Hayley will drive down to Mukilteo for her classes Monday thru Thursday (Fridays, too, though there are no classes…just occasional field trips and study time at the campus.) Then after school, she will zoom up to the high school for volleyball (either practice or matches.) This is a pretty intense school program and we’ve been warned that the homework load will be big. However, our girl thrives on challenge and is ready to take on this one!

After all, she’s seventeen now! We’ve been very busy with life lately, so I didn’t get a chance to update about the big 1-7. Hayley had her first volleyball match of the season that night over at South Whidbey. While the match didn’t go our way, we still celebrated Hayley’s birthday on the way home…with cupcakes on the ferry!

Chocolate with buttercream and white with strawberry icing. YUM. And yes…that is a Cupcake “H” for Hayley! The entire Lakewood High volleyball squad got off the bus and came up to the seating area to line the way for Hayley as they sang Happy Birthday! So sweet…they are truly an awesome group of girls!

Speaking of volleyball, check out this article in the Marysville Globe. (Hayley’s jersey number is #1 when you look at the slideshow.) Pretty exciting times around here. It was our 20th wedding anniversary that day to boot! We’re awfully proud of the young lady our little girl has grown into. And for the record (because people always ask!) she’s almost 6’…so when she’s rockin’ the heels, she’s standing a proud 6’3” to 6’4”. You go Glen Coco!! (Come on…name that movie!)

Unfortunately, I still can’t take a decent volleyball action shot so you’re probably only going to get written summaries…or shots like the one above! That was taken during pre-match warm-up and you’ll have to trust me that it was Hayley killing the ball!

Tonight, Hayley gets to play against one of her best friends, Hannah. (Hi Hannah!) She goes to a different school, but the girls have played Club ball together for two years now. It should be a fun night!

So, now that Hayley is back to school, I feel like Autumn is finally here. There is a briskness in the air, though we are due for temps in the 80’s this week!

Have a wonderful week!

Oh Nine Oh One Oh Nine

Isn’t that a cool date? I think so. In these parts, that means its time to head back to school. Brian obliged me with a First Day of School photo. Is it me or have my First Day of School photos gotten much more….casual?

A refresher:

Can you stand it? My heart just melted. A lot.

Okay, back to 09-01-09. In case you’re wondering where Hayley is in the current photo, don’t worry. I didn’t forget to take her picture. She didn’t want to be in the photo because this isn’t her first day of school. She doesn’t start school until September 21st because she is attending a program called ORCA through Everett Community College and will be on the college schedule. Since Brian had a delayed start this morning due to freshman orientation, Hayley decided to drive him to school.

Isn’t that sweet?

So, after watching 2/3 of my heart drive away, I walked back into the house to find this:

and this:

Both of them wondering what’s up that the house is empty. (By the way, Uncle Pat is here for a visit so he and Dan went out for Round 2 of their golf odyssey.)

Willie was worried, too:

Or maybe not. Our Wills tends to come and go as he pleases. He sauntered home this morning (after I hollered for him to get his butt home) and ate some breakfast and went off to the woods again. We don’t know what he does out there, but we did find remains little fluffy fur bits out in the yard, so one can only imagine!

I know I never finished my update on Willie. My “teaser” post, if you will. We’ve been busy around here and I will get to it this week. Don’t worry though. All is well with Mr. Willie Lunchmeat.

I mean, does this look like an unhappy kitty to you?

(Josie Grandma, Willie really likes your pretty cushions!)

Have a fabulous day!

The Prodigal Son: Preview

It is with great joy that I can report back to you that Willie Lunchmeat has returned home to us...where he belongs.

He's actually been home for 16 days now. And while I wanted to immediately do a big post about his return, part of me was waiting. Waiting for him to break our hearts and leave again. However, it would appear that our boy has decided to stay. {{Doing my happy dance...}}

I have a slew of photos of our wayward traveler to share with you. Both pre and post journey. I'm helping serve lunch to all the coaches at the high school this morning, but when I'm done I'll sit down and share our furry version of The Prodigal Son.

=)

“What I Did Today” by Diane K. Liebel

1. Got up, fed the fuzzies, made a cup of coffee and took a shower.
2. Put on a baseball cap. Because it is too friggin’ hot and humid to bother drying my hair. (Can I just remind you all that we live in the Pacific Northwest? It is not supposed to get to 100 degrees here. But today, it is supposed to hit 101 degrees. I’d like to file a complaint with Mother Nature…
3. Started the car 5 minutes before we had to leave because it is hot in the car. Really hot. And I wasn’t going anywhere until the air conditioner cooled it down.
4. Dropped Brian off at his driving lesson and went straight to Target.
5. Made a mad dash through Target to get to the just-stocked fan section and quickly shoved three (3) column fans into my cart. No doubt, they ran out of just-stocked fans within ten minutes.
6. Smugly paid for my three fans, knowing that someone is going to ask a Target employee the same stupid question I did yesterday…”Excuse me? Where are the fans???” Ya know, I don’t appreciate being laughed at by Target employees as they exclaim, “Hahaha…we sold out in five minutes…hahaha…check back tomorrow…hahaha!”
7. Filled up the car with gas at Costco. Smiled smugly at the guy behind me because I had three (3) fans in the back of my car and he didn’t.
8. Went into Costco and headed straight for the Produce walk-in refrigerator, where it is a delightful 40 degrees. I slowly examined every item of produce in said walk-in.
9. Briefly considered going and getting a display lawn chair and sitting in said Produce walk-in refrigerator for the rest of the day.
10. I decided against #9 because I think the Costco employees would have noticed and asked me to leave.
11. Josie Grandma calls and thinks she is funny by asking, “What are you doing? Sweating??? Hahahahaha!” (Josie Grandma lives in the hottest place on earth, otherwise known as Arizona. She loves this kind of hellish heat.)
12. I told Josie Grandma that no, I was NOT sweating because I was in the Costco Produce walk-in refrigerator, thank you very much! We continued to talk until I had to pay.
13. I picked up Brian from his driving lesson and we went home to set up our three (3) new fans.
14. I just set up one of the fans about 18 inches behind me and decided to blog about my day.
15. At least I’ve stopped sweating.

Sigh. I hate heat. I love cool.

We are going to Kenny Chesney on Saturday. It is only supposed to be 88 degrees and party cloudy. Who do I need to bribe to get full cloudy??? Cuz I’ll do it. =) I will.

That is my update for today. I have tons to post about, but I’ve been lazy. And now its too hot. But here is a teaser of what we’ve been up to:

The Josies came to visit us. We had a nice visit with them. We did lots of this:

Gin. Ahhhh. I’m just going to throw a number out there. 85. That’s all I will say. 85. Those that need to know will know what that means.

I put Josie Grandma to work making cushions for our front porch set. She banged them out in a couple of hours.

Pretty, no? What you don’t see in this pretty picture is the frogs that live under the cushions. Yes, you read that right. To get out of the heat, our frogs climb between the wicker and the cushion and hang out. It is what it is.

And finally, we had a new member of our family. Meet Willie Lunchmeat.

I’ll have to write more about Willie later because this photo makes me very sad. See, Willie Lunchmeat was with us for 2 1/2 weeks and then he wasn’t. I don’t know if he found someone who fed him better (like THAT would happen!) or if he met a sad fate. We just know that he didn’t come home.

Brian took a trip to see old friends and family in SoCal and Hayley had some volleyball camps. We’ll get to all that later. For now, I’m camping out in front of a fan with a glass of lemonade! Stay cool!

Riggins to Seattle '09: Part III

Saturday, May 30th. This was a special day. Not only were my favorite lovebirds still here visiting, but alas, I turned the ripe old age of 45! Sighhh. So, I can tell you that possibly the best way to greet 45 is to go wine tasting! Trust me on this. It dulls the pain! We hopped in the car and drove up to Concrete, WA to sample the goodies at the Challenger Ridge Winery. Our friends Ken and Danette (along with a group of their friends) own this winery. To say that it is the most charming plot of earth evahhhh would be an understatement! I mean really: Look at that view. Look at all those vines. And that is just part of the property. We went inside the Tasting Room, which is an ooold cabin. Very rustic and homey. Once inside, our darling hostess Cora hooked us up with tasting after tasting of wine. Three whites...then 3 reds. Each one better than the last. Good times, I tell ya! Lookie....future grapes! I just have to tell you about two of the wines we tried. "Gordon" and "Faye." Apparently these two wines are named after winemaker Randy Bonaventura's TWO DOGS...and their likenesses are on the labels of their namesake wines!!! Can you stand it? Anyone who names their wine after their dog is a star in our book! Missy Laura and I. We were still tasting at this point. This was right about when Laura decided to move up here and be my neighbor so we could go wine tasting every day! Yeah yeah....I made that up. My Boy and I. He's my Hunky-Monkey. I think the buzz was a little more apparent. I look WAY too happy to be 45. After tasting, we each got a full glass of wine and Cora then took us on a little tour of the winery. We got to see the whole production area from smashing the grapes to the bottler and labeler. We walked up to the upper level of the property where there is a little pond. As we stood there taking in the serenity of the pond, about 100 fish darted into view, scaring us and causing me to scream out loud. The buzz was very apparent at that point. We went back to the Tasting Room and got another glass of wine and sat in rocking chairs on the front porch and discussed how there really was no better way to spend the day. And that is when I took the photo of the wine glass and flag. We said our farewell to Cora and headed down the road to find something to soak up some of the wine eat. We came upon this place: These are the best places to nosh, right? Behold: Yeaaahhhh. I don't know if it was the wine or what, but this was the best burger I'd ever feasted on. (Except for Dano's home-made burgies. THAT goes without saying!) So, Laura and I ordered bacon cheeseburgers that came with everything, though Laura eats hers dry. Nothing on it. The guys, on the other hand, ordered regular old burgers with the assumption that their burgies would come with, oh I don't know, lettuce or tomatoes or onions or TOPPINGS IN GENERAL!!! I guess at Birdsview Burgers, you have to tell the little ladies workin' the counter exactly what you're expecting on your burger. Laura and I felt bad for the boys and their sad, plain, topping-less burgers, but the buzz of the wine left us powerless to do anything but snarf. We had the long drive home, during which Laura and I reclined the back seat and "rested our eyes." (That is Grandma Liebel's term for napping...and Laura uses it on occasion!) When we pulled up to the house, we all noticed this unsettling phenomenon. There was a dark ring around the sun. Very, very bizarre. I admit it fa-reaked me out. It finally disappeared, allowing us to relax a little, knowing the world wasn't coming to an end on my birthday! We spent the rest of the day looking at the houses for sale our neighborhood (the one right behind us is perfect for Laura and Corey...we even have a back gate to connect our backyards. Just sayin'...) For dinner, we'd originally planned to go to PF Changs. But after a day of wine-tasting, we were more inclined to hang around the house and let Dano feed us his version of Me 'n Ed's pizza. I KNOW! Dano has been on a quest...a mission, if you will, to duplicate the pizza from Me 'n Ed's in Long Beach, CA. We believe he has come out victorious! Trust me...it's that good! A special treat for Corey in his visit up here was that his friend from his Navy days, David Shellhammer, was able to drive over from Bremerton and have dinner with us that evening. He's a sweetheart. The poor guy U-turned right into a grass-covered ditch at the bottom of our hill Sunday morning and he just took it in stride. They hadn't seen each other since Laura and Corey's wedding. We all feasted on pizza and then headed out to the firepit for an FPN...Seattle style. S'mores and mosquitos. Yay! Sunday morning, I woke up feeling amazingly good. (Considering the amount of wine and Captain & Diet Cokes we consumed the day before!) We headed to church and then to the Bluebird Cafe for breakfast. Yummy! Sigh. Sadly, we had to drive our favorite lovebirds to the airport on Sunday afternoon. We stopped in at the Pyramid Brewery right by Mariner Stadium for some grub, since the travelers wouldn't be getting any real food until late that night. A little Hef, some nachos, some BBQ chicken pizza and a rather eccentric History teacher who made our acquaintance because of Dano's t-shirt that had Ben Franklin's quote: "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" made for a memorable lunch. Did YOU know that Ben Franklin and George Washington smoked weed? No? Well, this woman did. And she was all too happy to go on...and on...and on about it, while our pizza cooled! I think we all silently cheered when she finally left our table so we could eat! We got to the airport and sadly bid farewell to our awesome niece Laura and her sweet hubby Corey. Fortunately for Laura and I, a simple one or two word text brings all the fun right back! After all, "We live on the Rez!" Tee hee! Corey and Laura, come see us again when you can! We love and miss you!