Old friends are good friends

During my single days in Anchorage, AK in the late 70's & early 80's, I met some young girls who, 30 years later, I count as my dearest friends. By the mid 80's we were marrying and going our divergent ways, separated by distance, but bonded by similarities.

15 years ago, we all met in Colorado and thus began a regular habit of getting together once every couple of years. One year we flew to Karry's horse ranch in Arkansas. Another year found us here in Olympia at my home. We've been to Laurie's home in CA twice. Last year we stayed in Fauntleroy near Seattle. This year we met in warm, sunny Scottsdale, AZ.

Our time together is filled with laughter and tears. We discuss child rearing (now involving our young, adult children), our husbands, religion, business ownership, nutrition, sex, gardening, playing, aging, etc. etc. No subject is off limits. We talk, shop, eat then eat again. We stay up too late and, not able to sleep in, complain about not sleeping enough yet stay up even later the next night!

I return home exhausted but energized, rejuvenated & ready to tackle my own 'stuff' with renewed vigor & determination. These women sharpen my purpose and help deepen my character. They are truly my soul sisters and I owe each one of them gratitude for showing up and being present in my journey through life.

The Springs

The Howard's, all four of them, recently took a trip to Colorado Springs to visit Matt and Stephanie.
Having not seen Stephanie since Nick & Courtney's wedding in September of last year, we were all excited to connect once again.

It was Easter weekend so I staged an Easter egg hunt, filling plastic eggs with candy (some held money!) and hiding them in in the backyard. I tried to hide them in difficult places - after all, these were adults who were searching, not little kids!

Colorado Springs sits at 6,300 ft in elevation. It takes more than a few months to become acclimated to the elevation so we experience labored breathing upon exertion, fatigue, thirst & bloody boogers in the mornings.








A beautiful & famous destination in The Springs is Garden of the Gods. It has incredible red rock formations with hiking trails galore. We manged to huff & puff our way along one of the trails.










At the visitor center, Glynn spotted this golf cart with an attached snowplow. He thinks we need one for the mini storage facility!














We also drove up into the mountains to around 8,500 ft for a picnic lunch. Although it was a beautiful day, we weren't surprised to find snow. We hiked around the lake then quickly ate our lunch as it was breezy and we were COLD!



























This crazy cloud came out of the storm as we flew into on our way into Denver. The turbulence lasted at least 30 minutes and I had the puke bag ready! Courtney told me later that she dug her fingernails into Nick's leg while tears ran down her cheeks. I wasn't fearful. I just wanted the flight to end before I lost my lunch!


(Sorry, folks. I'm still learning how to align text with photos and this entry didn't turn out so good....)

Sadness

Today was a sad day and my heart feels raw & my eyes continue to leak tears.

Our good friend & business partner, Jim Walton, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer 20 months ago. As often seems to happen, Jim had finally retired and was looking forward to puttering around his newly built dream home in Lewis County & taking time to fish and hunt and camp; many of the activities we put off until 'we have the time'. That time never materialized for Jimmy as his illness quickly forced itself into the center of his existence. Throughout his illness, Jimmy would tell us,with no complaint, that he had lived a full life and 'when the contract is up, it's up'. He bore his illness with typical Jimmy stoicism.

If Jimmy were a dog breed he would be a Newfoundland - big and 'in-your-face' but as loyal and steady as they come. He was well loved by people from all walks of life and his celebration of life potluck was well attended by family, former Army buddies, ex-employees, fellow contractors, countless friends, and friends of friends and friends of relatives. There was laughter and tears as folks shared their stories of his bluster and his gentleness.

I'd be a little less of a person today if I had never met Jimmy. He added texture to my life.

I miss him....

Why I should probably stop swimming....

'nuf said.

There must be a Hobby Lobby in heaven

A trip to Colorado Springs wouldn't be complete without a shopping spree to Hobby Lobby and Archivers. Hobby Lobby is like Joann Fabrics on crack. If you go to http://www.hobbylobby.com/stores/store_tour.cfm, you get a bird's eye view of what I'm talking about. Beware, intense salivation occurs & creative urges to begin crafting become overpowering! Co Springs sports 4 Hobby Lobby's! I wish they'd share & send one to Olympia.

Archivers is a wonderful scrapbooking store with papers, stickers, & accessories not found at Joann Fabrics or Michael's. Although I don't scrapbook, I call myself a paper artist. I LOVE PAPER!

Do note the small frame. It's hard to tell from the picture but it has 'baby' centered above the space for a picture and this frame is now sitting on my piano, awaiting a photo of my first grandbaby, Cooper (who is still incubating).

Queen for a day!

It seems the older we become, the less we care about our birthday. There comes a point in one's life when adding another year begins to 'matter' and we would rather not bring attention to it!

The truth is, one's birthday is the one day out of the year when one can truly be 'queen (or king) for a day'. It's the one day when I feel no guilt for not planning or cooking dinner nor for allowing others to do for me what I usually do for them.

When a few of us girls decided to have a let's-celebrate-Jonny's-birthday-by-taking-her-out-dinner, I quickly assembled this birthday crown which she proudly (or generously ?!) wore all evening long.

Happy Birthday, Jonny!

Birthday book for Deb

Lately I've been in the crafting mood and spend many an evening in my craft corner putting together a new
creation.


My most recent project was constructing a book to give my sister, Debbie, for her birthday.

What I love about these books is that I can tweak them to fit a personality.

People ask me where I find the materials and ephemera for these projects.

First of all, ephemera is:' paper items (as posters, broadsides, and tickets) that were originally meant to be discarded after use but have since become collectibles'. It is pronounced e-fem-ora.

Crafts stores like Joanne's Fabrics and Michaels are a good start for basic paper and stickers. Independent paper/scrapping stores have more original items. I use the internet to order individual collage sheets and use my naked, human eyeball to find images in magazines & newspapers.

I love serendipity and get very happy when I discover a 'find' at Goodwill or at a garage sale. Those are the best!

Quotes are everywhere as is the written word.

Put it all together and you get an original creation!