Taking a breath...

I've been busy, and I've been thinking about things.  I'm having a hard time getting my thoughts together/in order so that I can actually think about the things I am thinking about.  It's quite confusing and frustrating.  But, there is a lot going on in my head right now.  A lot of it has to do with the many people I am making friends with in the various cancer groups I am participating in, and also how I am reacting in/feeling due to these gatherings.  I'm glad I am doing this, but it is beginning to be hard -- thinking about things, facing things, that sort of stuff.  And it's going to get harder as a few of my new friends may not be here very much longer, and I am so not good at dealing with death.  Of course, I think that's part of why I am doing this, too.  I need to learn to cope with death, or at least figure out why I have such a hard time with people dying.  That's just part of what's going on in my head...  I am hoping to have some quiet time to myself this weekend to sort of sit and ponder, maybe write down things as they come to me and start sorting through things.

So, I managed to leave my car lights on while I was at work this morning.  Dumb.  I finally got hold of Mark to come and rescue me.  We're going back tonight to jump start the car.  We'll probably take the puppies with us so they can have a fun truck ride.  They love riding in the truck.

Our friends Dan and Barb were here last weekend.  We attended their grandson's 1st birthday party with them.  It was fun, and tasty -- perfectly grilled steaks.

I went to a farewell lunch this week for our cancer group yoga teacher.  She is moving to Portland to start a more restful and less busy life.  She is very happy about the move, but we all are very sad to have her leave.  I have a feeling the yoga group will begin to disband.

Our gorgeous summer weather is rather quickly turning into fall.  I am hoping to wrap my head around this change, too, as I want to keep a happy face about non-sunny and warm weather.  I have always enjoyed fall, it's just that the weather we have been having has been spectacular, the kind everyone wants all the time.

Anyway, I need to go get things gathered up and start preparing dinner. So, that's it for now.

Beach Day!

So, Mark and I and the puppies went to the beach Saturday!  This was my first trip to the WA coast, and the puppies' first visit to a beach ever.  They had a blast -- running, running, running.  It was a very warm and sunny day here, but the beach was overcast, cool and breezy.  It was terrific.  It was a nice drive, very little traffic, and pretty much a deserted beach.  We had lunch at The Green Lantern.  Good burger with a toasted bun (makes all the difference).  Saturday night and Sunday were pretty ordinary -- watching TV on two different levels Saturday night, Mark played golf on Sunday, and I puttered around the house and then ran errands and went shopping for a new pair of sport shoes.  Of course they had to be ordered because of the narrow width, and then today the store called to tell me they are backordered and not sure when they will be able to get them.  Oh well.

Today was just another regular day -- I have no idea why I seem to always be running errands, but I do.  Today was no different.  Another oh well.

The puppies are enjoying a rawhide chew bone right now, and I'm going to go finish cleaning up the kitchen.  I may even try reading something tonight, since my evening wrapped up fairly early (football started at 4:30, so it's been a quiet night for me downstairs...).

And that's it for now.

Lots of fun lately

It's been the regular sort of stuff lately, except that we had a 'luau' for friends and neighbors on the Sunday before Labor Day.  It was fun.  Lots of laughs and great food.  The weather was perfect and we were able to be outside until way late into the night.  We grilled teriyaki chicken and Sonnenberg's sausages (great sausages from a Spokane meat/deli).  We had fresh crab dip, homemade quacamole, shrimp cocktail, homemade berry cobbler and backyard apples and berry pie with ice cream, really good jalapeno mac-n-cheese, a beet salad that was 'to die for' and all sorts of other goodies.  No one went hungry, or thirsty.  Brenna and Ty had an amazing time because they had lots of people that would pay attention to them, and Jon would always throw the toys for them.  We actually can't find one toy, it may be up in the bushes somewhere, and the puppies were both so tired by the end of the night.  Ty was even limping a little bit, but that didn't last long.

We also had a fun evening at Fish Tale Brew Pub with some folks from Mark's office and a guy from the Spokane office who is doing a detail over here for a few weeks.

Mark and I played golf on Labor Day and had a really good time.  The weather has been so amazing!  And the course was not crowded, so we got to play by ourselves.  Mark finally gave me a few pointers and it made a big difference in the way I hit the ball.  I need to bug him to give me more instruction when we're actually on the course.

I got the front stitches of my gum surgery taken out this week.  Yea!  The back ones will come out in two months.  Good thing none of this hurts or is bothersome.

I was not in the mood to make lunch for Mark on Tuesday night because I had been 'battling' with my computer and printer all night trying to figure out how to download some drivers.  So, Wednesday we went out to lunch at Top Food.  We like eating there -- they have a good oriental counter.  We had some really fresh spring rolls and an Empress chicken bowl.  Yum.

I'm taking care of Scampi, our neighbors cat, again.  She still likes me when I feed her, but gets grumpy after I feed her, much like "I'm done with you now, so you can leave."  She's very funny.

I worked my Weight Watchers shifts yesterday and today.  Both were good; fairly productive.

I wasn't in the mood to attend my cancer support group last night; I'm not sure why.  But, I didn't go, and that's ok.  I'll make it to the next one.

I made a big pot of veggie soup yesterday, and I think I'll go get it and start heating it up for dinner.  Right now, it sounds pretty good.  Plus, it's another beautiful day, so I should go sit outside and read for a while.  Chill out, etc.

And, that's it for now.