the white stuff makes a brief appearance

it came in the night ... when the house was silent


and we were all sleeping ... okay, most of us were sleeping ... someone was creeping about and leaving their telltale footprints ... Frosty? Is that you?



giant flakes fell from the sky



then sadly ... the grownups had to go to work and by the time they got home...



it had mostly melted away. All that remained was Frosty's skeleton! Not quite a children's story, is it?

I love the snow!

(sigh)

sunday driving

Today I decided to take a day trip to Bainbridge Island, which is just up the peninsula from where I live. Not sure really what I had in mind, but thinking perhaps I would visit some garage sales. Turns out, I drove all the way to Winslow, the little town at the edge of the island where you catch the ferry over to Edmonds and from there, Seattle and parts unknown, and decided to go sight seeing. I parked the car on the street, lugged my bag up on my shoulder and headed off on foot.

Sun blazing down, all the morning mist having dissipated, and a vibrant breeze filling the air -- some lucky dog somewhere was enjoying a barbecue! Being as it is Sunday, most of the really sweet shops were closed but I stared in windows, nose pressed up against the glass, thanking heaven I couldn't get inside ... so many wonderful things to be wished for and possibly obtained! I did visit Bad Blanche's furniture store and drooled over a sofa table, circling it quite a few times before deciding the wood was too reddish ... walnut I'm thinking, and would blend in with my fir floors and ... it just wouldn't give the punch I was looking for. The other reason being, I am a rehabilitated impulse buyer. This wondrous gift (the rehabilitated part) was given me when I decided to take a fun job ... a short-term, part-time stint in one of the cutest shops in the world ... The Apple Crate in Tacoma. What I realized was, each day a new shipment came in I opened packages and thought, I have to have this! The next day, I'd come back and say, I really don't have to have this. And...by the third day, whatever I thought I couldn't live without had totally lost its luster usually... that being the case, it takes me a good three days to determine whether something is really worth buying or not (there are exceptions, such as ... a garage sale find that will probably never pass this way again!) So ... Thanks Apple Crate! You did me a great service, and I should think anyone else requiring some like-therapy ought to get themselves a nice little retail job in the shop of their dreams for one summer. Believe me ... it works.

So back to today... I window shopped mostly, and did not spend. Nothing that required dying for. I traipsed through several galleries and looked at jewelry ... not to purchase, but just in an artistic sense, I love to look at materials and color and gems and workmanship. I wandered through a nursery, smelled fragrant flowers, fingered petals and dug my fingers into dirt... and considered how I might plant a particular border in my garden. I stopped at Starbucks and indulged. I met three very nice tethered dogs, waiting for their dining owners I suspect, and had friendly conversations with each of them.

I came home from my day's outing pretty much empty handed... with nothing but a book about Seattle's best women entrepreneurs and their great little shops and the powerful desire to visit them all! Next time I'll catch the ferry, cross the big water and shop the city. I must drag one of my dear friends along with me for that day's adventure! Of course, I'll bring a camera and share that day with you.

Home at last and the weekend winds down. We're having baked cod for dinner. It's in the oven right now and smells heavenly. 7pm and a breeze rustles the trees, dogs lie stretched out on the cool floors, birds chatter in the other room and the cat lies on her back on the sun-warmed deck. Vera stops in for a McVitties Irish Bisquit, which she takes from my hand and rushes back to her tree. Alone for the moment, other than, of course, visiting with you.

Blessings ... ~L

the trials and tribulations of motherhood and stuff

Sunday night and the heat has finally dissipated to a nice comfy temperature outside. The clouds have rolled in and the winds picked up and this dreary heatwave is on its way out the door ... I only wish for good, but alas Summertime is just around the corner here in the Pacific Northwest.

Despite the heat, the summer has already brightened up my garden with so many blooms and the colors of the Oriental poppies are inspiring me in regard to a necklace that keeps popping in my head. Hmmmm ... I'm wondering where I will find beads as red-orange as a poppy? What about Jasper?

Then of course there were the usual things a mother of a teenager must attend to. Which things are those? ... for one, the young man-child is now one teeny bit closer to "man" period... or so he will tell you! Though I don't promote this line of thinking ... certainly not! Still ... Saturday morning he cajoled me into accompanying him for the second time to take his written driver's test, and me thinking, well, he'll probably fail it again since he refuses to study so no big deal ... then ... I had this idea! I told him if he failed, he had to pay me back the $20. That'd stop him in his tracks. Only fair, right? But... shockingly... he agreed with little more than pursed lips. He went off to the little computer cubical to take his test and I went for coffee and as I was stepping out of the coffee shop, latte in hand, I had a small epiphany ... he's going to ace the test a voice said. You'd think if God was going to talk with you She'd tell you about something that didn't cost money!

When I got back to the DMV or is it DOT now ... whatever they call themselves these days, latte in hand, there he stood all by himself up at the counter chatting to one of the wonderful federal employees and she (the federal employee) was smiling and looking as if she were quite happy to be in that conversation instead of looking at her computer screen and frowning, which seemed very, very STRANGE. I raced up to the desk, "I'm back! I'm the mother! Oh my god! What happened?" I panted. The federal employee frowned and looked back at her computer screen (did I just miss something?) ... guess what, he said, I can take the drive test in 20 minutes! Someone just cancelled! Can you believe my luck? No ... I can't believe MY luck (I only thought this last bit, while I smiled encouragingly, realizing I was out a minimum of twenty bucks! I was also wondering what the maximum might be.)

Waiting for the nice lady (we hoped) who would judge his abilities to join the ranks of the safe and careful American driver, he decided he would practice his parallel park. Like a true champ, he executed every step perfectly except for turning on the windshield wipers instead of the indicator light ... heh, heh... oops! I burst out laughing... feeling as though I'd just stepped inside a Monty Python skit, and he in turn giggled hysterically! Not good. Hysterical laughter is, as I'm sure you are aware, unbearably infectious and I immediately realized I must pick myself up off the floor boards and maintain a serious demeanor, which meant getting as far away from him as possible because my sympathetic nervous energy (its hard being a mother!) was pushing him over the edge of sanity which is not a good condition to be in when taking a driving test. Maybe I should just go wait inside, I said. Good idea.

In the end, the nice lady passed him. First try! And him grinning from ear to ear with a thumbs up as he swaggered in the door. That'll be $25 the lady behind the counter said, and I planted two bills down and smiled. Before I put my pocket book away, will you folks be wanting any more of my money, I asked. This new Federal employee had no sense of humor and merely considered me as if she hadn't noticed me before nor planned to ever again. Her hand smacked down on the $25 as if it had been hers all along.

When can I get insured? He asked on the way home, happy as a clam in muck.

Help?

~Lora