It has been a really long time...

Whew!  It's been a crazy bunch of days and weeks.  Let's see if I can catch myself up to what I've been doing so that I can be reminded later.

May 5 -- we watched the Kentucky Derby; I'll Have Another won.
May 6 -- we took Ty to get his eyes checked at Breeders Day at Steamboat Vet Clinic.  His eyes are perfect.
May 8 -- I went to yoga and lunch after.
May 9 -- I got my hair cut.
May 10 -- I went to my Weight Watchers meeting and went to see my lymphedema therapist.
May 11 -- Mary Kay got here to visit and puppy sit while Mark and I went to Orlando.
May 13 -- our cousin, Julie, came over and the four of us had a delicious bbq pork loin for dinner.  It was lots of fun.
May 14 -- I had an appt. at Judy's for some pretty new bras.  Ooohhhh.
May 15 -- I met with Karen, an oncology social worker.  It was a good visit.  That night, Mark and I left for Des Moines, WA, to spend the night at the Marina Inn before leaving for Orlando the next day.  We stopped in at the All Star Sports Bar next door to the hotel.  The bartender was wonderful.  He liked making 'special' margaritas for me.  He also gave each of us a complimentary shot of Fireball, which we had never tasted before.  It was really good, like drinking ice cold cinnamon hearts.  Yum.  It was an interesting place.  Every male in there, except for Mark, was wearing a lid.  And there were lots and lots of nice tattoos.  One of the bartenders had a beautiful branch of various fruits on her arm.
May 16 -- we leave for Orlando.  Fiasco at the car rental desk, so we called Bill & Frances to come pick us up at 11:00 p.m. in the pouring down rain.  Oh well.
May 17 -- got a new rental car.  Went to see mom at her assisted living apartment and had dinner with her there.  Had a good fun evening with Bill, Frances and Curt.
May 18 -- I think we just sort of puttered around that day.  Jennifer & Joseph got in that evening.
May 19 -- great day of golf with Mark, Bill, David, Joseph, Curt, Bryan and Craig (a friend of Bryan's).  Beautiful day, not too hot, hardly humid.  And there were no alligators on the course this time.  Yea!  For dinner -- Joseph grilled steaks and asparagus, and we had baked potatoes and lots of other fun food.  Yum.
May 20 -- 85th Birthday Party!  A good party.  Chuck and Carole showed up, so everyone was really excited to see them.  Lots of friends and family for mom.  We ate lots of Bubbalou's Bodacious BBQ and birthday cake.  A good time was had by all.
May 21 -- Mark and I played a really nice golf course (Stoneybrook).  Bill, Jennifer and Joseph had a wonderful time at Animal Kingdom.  Frances got to stay home and relax and take naps (good for her!) and Curt worked on his computer and got all the work he needed to do done.
May 22 -- Bill and I met with mom and talked about some serious stuff.  Mark took Curt to the airport and then spent 3 hours in Golfsmith.  Jennifer and Joseph went to Universal.  David and Lynn came over for dinner with everyone.
May 23 -- We left to come home.  We got 'stuck' in St. Louis for a few hours, so we didn't get home until 11:00 p.m.  We were tired, but we were home and the puppies were glad to see us.
May 24 -- I managed to go to my Weight Watchers meeting.  I didn't do too badly over the last two weeks.
May 25 -- Mary Kay and I ran errands, got more stuff framed and hung.  (While we were in Orlando, Mary Kay framed and hung artwork, shampooed carpets, trimmed shrubs, and just a whole bunch of other stuff around the house.  She's amazing.)
May 26 -- Mark played golf and Mary Kay and I went to see Dark Shadows.  It was a fun movie.  Then we BBQd two kinds of sausages and some lamb loin chops, along with grilled corn on the cob and greenbeans.  Delicious dinner.
May 27 (today) -- Desmond came down to play golf with Mark, so we made a huge pan of scrambled eggs that had sausage in it, plus Canadian bacon, yellow peppers, sauted onions and garlic, grape tomatoes, and three kinds of cheese.  The eggs were delicious.  Then, Des and Mark took off and Mary Kay left to go home.  I've been vacuuming, doing laundry, generally cleaning up, and now I am going to tackle my office.  I have been tossing papers in here for weeks without doing any sorting or filing, so I now have a real mess that needs to be dealt with.  But, that's what this afternoon is for.  I'm home alone with just the puppies for company, so I can be productive.

I feel like I've caught up with myself now, so I guess I'll go and get busy.

And that's it for now.

Time warp in Olympia WA

It's been a busycrazy week, but loads of fun.  Along with the usual errand running, cooking, yoga class and Weight Watchers meeting attending, we were introduced to some of Olympia's more iconic events over the weekend, enjoying them all with our friends Brian and Susan.

The fun started on Friday evening when we attended the Luminary parade that is part of Arts Walk and Procession of the Species.  The parade was very cool, with folks carrying all kinds of lighted birds, fishes, animals, a praying mantis, just lots of fun creatures.  Very pretty, too.

On Saturday afternoon I went to a Weight Watchers celebration lunch.  It was fun meeting more of the staff from this area, and the food was good -- a chicken wrap in a spinach tortilla.

Then, Saturday evening we went to the Procession of the Species (see pictures).  It was like attending a Happening in 1968 (hence the time warp).  It was lots of fun.  After the parade we went to Susan and Brian's house, along with friends Paul and Connie, and had wings, salad, snacks, margaritas and GnTs, and sat around a wonderfully warm fire pit.  Lots of good food and laughter.

On Sunday, we went to the Shellfish SLURP.  This was held at a local brewery, Fish Tale Ale.  There were about a dozen local wineries sampling their wares and a dozen or so local restaurants showcasing their menu items using oysters, clams and mussels.  Lots of good food and wine.

Monday brought a nice lunch with my friend, Jules, at my favorite coffee place, Batdorf & Bronson.  Yummy Chilly-Goat (blended mocha) and chicken pesto sandwich.

Monday evening brought the decision to fix the kitchen sink faucet (it dripped).  Well, that led to calling a plumber (the faucet wouldn't come apart and we couldn't get the water quite turned off all the way). We now have a fancy new faucet, installed by the plumber.  It's very nice.

Today was what I think is what folks consider a typical Pacific Northwest day -- very gray and quite rainy.  It was the first time that I really wanted to just stay home curled up in a blanket and read a book.  I was good, though, and went to my Weight Watchers meeting and ran some errands.  I spent the afternoon working on computer stuff.  So, now it's time to think about fixing something for dinner, and feeding the puppies.  Then I think I really will curl up in a blanket and read a book.

That's it for now.