ThanksChristmas Poll

When I was in Seattle recently, I brought up the old question of "Are we buying stocking gifts ($10 ea limit and must fit in stocking) for the family members who can't come to Seattle this year?"

I think we had said once that "NO", we weren't, but I wanted to double check. Everyone there was kind of "whatever" either way was okay. So I'm asking for a poll of family members here on the blog so we can get a definite and final answer. Majority rules.

Okay, everybody report in with their opinion please.

Mariners vs. Red Sox

Well Eric managed to get 2 free tickets to the Mariners vs. Red Sox game this past Saturday from one of his co-workers. David and Dad declined going with us, so Chunnan, Eric and I went. That is, after I sent Dad on an adventurous bus ride downtown to exchange the tickets for handicap seating ones and to buy a ticket for Chunnan. He had to do a lot of walking, but I'll bet his doctor would be proud!!! I am!!

So off we went from the Park & Ride on the Safeco Field Bus around 5:00 (the game started at 7:00). The ride down wasn't nearly as crowded as I expected it to be. Our seats were up on the 3rd level so we had to take the elevator. So we went into the Guest Services area where the elevator is and were waiting for someone to tell us where to go. Chunnan decided he was going to take the stairs/escalator and said he would meet us up there. Shortly after he left one of the guest services people asked if we wanted to go down on the field for batting practice so, of course, we said yes. So they gave us visitor badges and five of us (three wheelchairs and two walkers) went down on the third baseline to watch the Red Sox batting practice. We didn't get there early enough to see the Mariners practice. We called Chunnan on the cell phone and he said "Where are you, I'm here." Eric told him to look down on the third baseline as we were waving to him. Before we left the field, one of the Red Sox came over and autographed our tickets. After that, Eric and I went up to our seats, and I showed Chunnan the autographed tickets. He asked who had signed them, and I said "I don't know." The guy had on a warm-up jacket so I didn't see a jersey number. Of course Chunnan just laughed at me. I didn't see the guy play at all that night so I figure he's low on the totem pole (probably one step up from the bat boy). Anyway, it was a really good game. I thought for sure that we would have been safe on the third level and directly behind home plate from any foul balls, but that is not true...we nearly got conked on the head. Anyway, a good time was had by all...especially my husband who took great pleasure in eating his way through the concession stands!! Oh...and the Mariners won too!!!!!!!!!!!

UPDATE: After some major web searching, I have discovered that the Red Sox player that autographed our tickets is Kyle Snyder.

Update Requested

Okay John and Amy - you guys have been in Phoenix for a few days now, so how about an update. What is happening? John, I hear you are now working for University of Phoenix - give us the scoop. Also, what is you phone # and email.

Love ya'll!!!

Happy Birthday To Me!

I know many of you have already wished me a happy birthday and even given gifts, but I just wanted to mark the occasion here on the blog.

I AM NOW 40 YEARS OLD!

Woo Hoo!

ps. doesn't that make the rest of you feel really old?

The Rest of the Week

Saturday was eventFUL with a brunch of Dim Sum at the Imperial Garden Seafood Restaurant which was scrumcious as usual. There always seems to be something new to try each time I go and, after we were already too stuffed to order more, Peggy saw something on one of the passing trays which I think both of us would like to try next time. There's no way for me to try to explain to any of you who haven't eaten there just what Dim Sum is, or how adventurous you must be to try some of it, but I doubt that you would be disappointed if you'd care to join us next time!

Somehow the Pieces Quilt Shop didn't seem quite as wonderful as the last time I was there, but we did manage to find some of the fabric for the Scrabble board quilt David wants me to make and I bought fat quarters for myself since I'd already purchased some for the gals back home.

Topping off the day was a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island because Mama wanted to do "something" on the water. We had a bit of a wait before the next ferry came in and it was quite a crowd getting off. I think there was a big game that night so everyone was coming in to see it. The ride over to Bainbridge Island was very nice and lovely weather prevailed.

Mt. Ranier could be seen peeking out above the far off clouds and boats from cruise ship size to sail boat size passed on either side of us. David and Chunnan snoozed in the viewing area inside on the way back while Peggy, Eric, and I remained at the rail and enjoyed the ride.

On Sunday, Peggy, Eric, and I were supposed to go to a picnic with the Summit Assistance Dogs group, but we all felt it was too long a drive and we were all tired from the previous day's activities, so we skipped that and just stayed home and played games with David that day. He had some new games I hadn't played and the one I especially liked was Catch Phrase (I think). It's kind of a cross between Hot Potato and Password and a lot of fun to play.

Monday we went to Snoqualmie Falls, about 30 to 45 minutes east of Seattle. The Snoqualmie River cascades 270' (100' higher than Niagra, but not as wide)into a rock gorge and provides 41,990 kilowatts of electricity to the area via two power plants buried behind the falls in solid rock. These were built in 1898 and 1910 are are still in use today.

On the way back we stopped at another bear carving shop just outside of town and looked around, but David didn't find anything else he wanted so we returned home for more games and a DVD.

Tuesday had no plans other than that I (and Peggy) wanted to visit the Wide Shoes store not too far from her apartment. We both found something we liked and continued on to Walmart for new socks and a few other things. We picked up Eric from work at 3 pm, went back to Peggy's place and ordered supper from the Chinese restaurant next door. That turned out to be an adventure as the elevator wasn't working when Eric and I left to go get the food so we had to walk down several flights of stairs to reach the side exit and then down a couple more flights of stairs outside to reach ground level, then down a steep hill to street level and across the restaurant parking lot. As opposed to the horse ride, going down was okay, but coming back up (and I wasn't even carrying any of the food as they'd put it all in one box which Eric carried) was not fun for an old woman as out of shape as I am.

Wednesday we went to see Cars at the theater. Peggy and David had already seen it, but didn't mind seeing it again. It is a cute movie. We picked up Eric from work again and took them home where I said goodbye since Peggy didn't want to drive to the airport later that evening. After a delicious dinner at David's house (Thanks Preston!), he and Chunnan drove me to the airport by 8:45 (and David said to be sure I mentioned that the drive could be made in 30 minutes), got me checked in, and saw me go uneventfully through security before they headed home.

When I got to my gate boarding area, I wondered just what was going on since right beside my plane there were numerous police cars with lights flashing, a fire truck, and an ambulance. I never did find out, but it wasn't long before they all disappeared. The flight left just about on time and I managed to sleep fitfully most of the way, arriving in Charlotte around 6:30 am on Thursday. I had time for a leisurely walk from one gate to the other, breakfast at Burger King, and to finish one of the books I bought at the outlet mall we stopped at on the way home from Snoqualmie Falls (forgot to mention that earlier).

I found my seat on the plane heading to Gainesville and had a big giant linebacker type seatmate who most happily moved to another seat for more room when they announced the flight was only half full. I closed my eyes and snoozed off and on during the hour flight to Gainesville. No problems, but I sure was beginning to wonder during the landing as when we were coming down it sure seemed like the pilot wasn't real sure what flight path he was supposed to be on with more than (I thought) was necessary of wing tipping this way and that, although, he did eventually have a smooth landing.

And so ends the August Seattle Saga, simply, sadly, and with anticipation of a wonderful reunion with all of you in November at ThanksChristmas 2006.

*Disclaimer: The writer of this post refuses to accept any complaints from Saga participants regarding out of order events or forgotten events, games, or movies. I'm old and I'm not responsible for errors, ommissions, or typos, or lapses in memory... period.

Northwest International Quilt Festival

On Friday we drove into Seattle to attend the quilt show. We met David and Doug at David's house and, while David drove and Peggy rode shotgun, big-butts all, Eric, Doug, and I, played sardines in the back seat, very cozy arrangement.

The show was good, some really beautiful quilts (a few photos to be added later), crowded aisles and lots of venders selling everything from huge quilting machines to quilt related greeting cards. I don't think this show was as large as the Padukah , KY show I attended a few years ago, and I realized, sometime in the middle of the night last night, that I didn't see ANY raffle quilts. I thought there had been some in Padukah (presented by local guilds as a means of earning money, usually for charity) but maybe I'm wrong. I know all our local (not international) shows have several guilds offering raffle quilts at any show I've been to previously.

It only took us about an hour and a half to finish the viewing and head for the food court at The Seattle Center House for lunch. After lunch we walked over to Seattle Center park where we watched the children playing in the huge International Fountain, apparently designed specifically for that purpose, walked around the amusement rides/games area, and then back to the car to head home. We opted not to attend the tattoo festival going on nearby. Maybe there was more than one of us who might have been tempted to come home with some teeny colorful souvenir of our visit!

Doug went on home after we dropped them off at David's house. We drove back to Peggy's place and David joined us after stopping off to pick up a Scrabble game that I could bring home with me for quilt design purposes. He wants me to make him a king size scrabble quilt made just like the board, more or less. This may take a while!

He also brought a couple of games I'd never heard of or played before - Cluzzle and Take a Letter. Take a Letter is a little bit like scrabble, but still very different. Cluzzle involves making modeling clay clues - very unique and fun. I think we'll be playing those again sometime before I leave.

And so another day passed and today is quilt shop and dim sum (sp?)...yum-yum dim sum!

Bavarian Adventures

David said this should have been posted as an original entry instead of a comment to "She's Here" so that I could add photos to enhance the story. So, here it is, but, since I fail to see a cd drive on Eric's computer, and I don't want to wake him to ask where it is and look stupid, I'll let David edit this post and add some of the photos he took.

We awoke in the wee hours of the morning in order to be ready to leave Seattle about 6:30 am for a 2 1/2 hr. drive to the quaint little Bavarian village of Leavenworth. After fearing we were going to be rained out on the drive up, we arrived to sunny skies and pleasant temperatures. David and I dropped off Peggy and Eric downtown and then we continued on about 7 miles outside of town at Eagle Creek Ranch for our horseback ride. I got a nice little old nag named Cloud and David was placed on this huge brute called Terminator (aka Doug). They joked with David about having just purchased him the day before from the local rodeo where he'd been too dangerous for the cowboys to ride.

There were seven of us on the ride including the guide (who was't much of a guide, was very quiet during the trip, and who could have, but didn't, stop to let us take photos at several good mountain view areas). David had chosen the 2 hr ride and whoever signed him up told him that would be fine for a beginner. By the time the ride was over, we were both wishing it had ended an hour earlier.

The trail wound up the mountain side, very close to steep dropoffs, on horses whose only gait might be called "plodding" (but then any other gait would have been out of the question for inexperienced riders on a path which was rutted and rocky and, in some placed, too close to trees and bushes and that steep plunge just a few feet away). David kept expecting me to freak out due to being so close to "the edge" since I don't like to drive up and down mountain roads which are close to the edge and have views of deep ravines (which undoubtedly have invisible gremlins posted every few feet just waiting to reach up and grab our car and jerk it over the side). But I didn't, even though I did keep having flashbacks to the Snowy River movie in which the herd of Brumbies went galloping head first over the edge of the mountain side, straight down, followed in hot pursuit by the movie hero, crashing through the trees on a plunge to certain death, then watched as they all arrived safely at the bottom and the chase continued on. Now that was a decent to end all decents! However, these sure-footed horses we were on just didn't seem like the wild and crazy type associated with that movie, were quite familiar with the trail, and certainly had no intention of doing anything other than continuing to put one foot SLOWLY in front of the other all the way up and all the way down. (Although, my horse did stumble a couple of times which lessened my confidence in the "sure-footed" theory.)

If any of you out there besides David and I have back problems, let me advise you to take your first trail ride on the plains and not in the mountains. Going up wasn't too bad, but coming down was much harder on the back and legs as the horse's plodding becomes much more pronounced and you are continually shifting your weight to the stirrups to relieve the pressure on your butt and back and, thereby, killing your knees (I have bad knees. I didn't know David did until after the ride.). Anyway, you all know about 20/20 hindsight so enough said about mountains, plains, and length of rides for beginners.

So now the magic moment has arrived, the ranch is in view, and everybody breathes a sign of relief, more than ready to dismount and call it a day. Well, most people didn't have too much problem with that... except for me. They mounted us short people onto the horses using a step stool. When it came time to dismount, the stool was not offered. "Just swing your right leg back over the horses rump but don't knee him on the way over. Lean on me if you need to and slide down. " Right. By then my knees were so weak I didn't know if I could stand up even if I could get down. I could not put enough pressure on my left foot in the stirrup to lift my right leg since my knees were so weak. So, someone had to come over and help me get my right leg over the horses rump so I could slide down the left side of the horse and pray I could stand up when that right foot got to the ground and they released my left foot from the stirrup. Answer: just barely!

It does take a while to get your land legs back so we walked around a bit and took a few pictures of the horses before heading to the car. As we had been arriving back at the ranch, we passed a sign on the trail which said "Please feel free to kiss your horse and tip the guide." Well, it kind of felt okay to pat the horse and ignore the guide since she was such a poor one. After we rejoined Peggy and Eric in Leavenworth, we had lunch at King Ludwig's (I hope I remembered that name right) and then visited most of the Bavarian style tourist shops in town and a little art show as well. Some places were not accessible to Peggy, either the store display shelves being too closely placed or the store itself being up or downstairs. But, I think we had plenty to look at even without browsing through each and every one.

On the way back to Seattle, we stopped at a roadside shop which had wood carvings of all shapes and sizes of bears. David bought two. One was a cub peeking out of a tree trunk which will be placed in his front yard garden and the other was a bear in blue overalls which he will place inside the house. There was this huge dragon on a downed tree which was really nifty, but old and worn and definitely too big to transport!

After arriving back in Seattle and transferring David's loot to his car, we had supper at Denny's right around the corner from Peggy's apartment and then called it a night. I was so tired I went to bed at 8:30 (Seattle time) and slept almost 9 hours. So, today we're not bothering to rush, Doug is coming over, and we will pick David up about 11 am for our visit to the Northwest International Quilt Show here in Seattle. Stay tuned...

Originally posted 8/11/2006 07:16:09 AM

She's Here

Just a quick note to let everyone know that momma arrived safe and sound!!

Summer In Cascadia

Well, Mom, you're coming out to visit us in Seattle in a few days. We've got several things planned to you occupied...here are the major items on the list so far...

Aug 9: You arrive at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport about 8pm. Do you want to eat dinner when you get here or just go home and rest?

Aug 10: Drive to Leavenworth, WA, a cute little bavarian mountain tourist village, to do the tourist thing, shoping, eating, and horseback riding. The weather in Leavenworth should be in the upper 80's and sunny.

Aug 11: Attend the Pacific Northwest Quiltfest at Seattle Center. Maybe we can do the Tattoo Convention while we're there too. The weather in Seattle should be in the Upper 70's and sunny.

Aug 12: Dim Sum brunch at the Imperial Garden Seafood Restaurant in Kent then visiting Pieces Quilt Shop so mom can buy material for my next big quilting commission...a king-sized quilted scrabble board bedspread. Ferry ride to Bainbridge Island later in the day. The weather will be sunny and in the mid 70's.

Aug 13: Peggy's taking you to Anacortes for a picnic with the Summit Assistance Dogs organization. The weather in Anacortes should be in the mid to low 70's and suny. Maybe we can play some games when y'all get back.

Aug 14: No plans yet for this day. Seattle weather should be sunny and in the upper 70's.

Aug 15: No plans yet for this day. Seattle weather...unknown at this time because it's beyond the 10 day forcast. However, August is the driest and sunniest month here in Cascadia, so expect sunny and near 80.

Aug 16: Take you to the airport at Oh God!:30 a.m.

What else would you like to do? We could visit world famous Pike Place Market and Gas Works Park. Peggy mentioned that you might want to go Whale Watching. I'd also suggest the Locks Cruise or Lakes Cruise from Argosy or the Ride The Ducks tour as nice things to occupy some time. All of those, however, would not be wheelchair accessible. But since Peggy is taking you on Sunday, I can take you on one or two of these excursions. Let us know what else you'd like to do.

R.I.P. Tasha

We noticed last night that Tasha was not able to move or stand on her back legs. A trip to the e-vet today determined multiple organ failure with signs of liver cancer. Her heart was also enlarged. After consulting with the doctor and Peggy we (David and myself) decided to let her go before she had to suffer.

Rest in peace baby girl, you had a great life.

Europe is Calling Me

Here is my haiku for the day:

Can you believe it
I'm traveling to Belgium
Hope I make it back

Business is calling
I've got meetings to attend
Then I'll see the sights

End of haiku

Yes, I really am going to Europe - Brussels, Belgium which is just north of France. I will be there Sept 18 to Sept 24. I'm traveling with 2 men that I work with (George and Darin). We will fly over Monday night and arrive in Brussels @ 8:00 am Tues morning. Our meetings begin @ noon on Tuesday, so I hope I can sleep on the plane. Our meetings will end on Thursday. George will be flying back on Friday, however Darin and I will stay through Sunday so we can see some of the sights. (Don't anybody get any ideas - not that you would - but Darin is married). =)

So, I'll be spending my 41st birthday in Europe!! Who would have ever thought? Least of all, me!!