Will and Amy

Been thinkin'...

This weekend I had a lot, a lot, of think time. Will has been gone and there was yard work to do. So much yard work that my fingers keep slipping on the keys because my arms are shaky - that day-after shakiness that is accompanied by very sore muscles that are screaming for a hot bath (but are being ignored because I have to go to work in a few minutes). I weeded, planted, transplanted, spread mulch, mowed, edged and Home Depot-ed. I was so tired last night I could have gone to bed at 7 pm. I did all of the work iPod free. I'm not sure why other than I like to hear if Maddie is barking so I can tell her to hush so as not to bother the neighbors. I did see those neighbors out in their yards doing similar things, although the wives came over to chat (with clean hands...) while the husbands worked. Would have been nice, but at least I got the work-out and the sun (yes, there was sun...not warm sun, but sun nonetheless).

So, while I was thinking here's what I thought:

-I can't wait to go to my cousin's wedding in Michigan in a few weeks. The weather should be beautiful and we'll get to spend a lot of time with family. I'm envisioning cook-outs and lots of lounging. We're spending the first two nights of our trip in Chicago because Will has never been. I love Chicago and can't wait to share it with him.

-I think I have decided which vehicle I would like to get. We think we'd better go ahead and replace my car while we can and hope to avoid two car payments, at least for two years. More on this after I test drive...(I like to make up my own mind about these things, with Will's input, and there are so many car snobs - not all [6] of my reading faithful, of course - and I want to go form my own, uninfluenced except for professional reviews, opinion. Know what I mean?)

-I'm more than ready for Will to get home. Hopefully it will be late tonight/middle of the night, or at least by when I get home from work tomorrow.

-If I had about three thousand dollars to spend on our yard it would be gorgeous and functional and much more maintenance-free. Instead, it is pretty, still functional, but requires some (lots of) work. I can live with that. It got me outside all weekend and I really, really enjoyed finished products. One thing's for sure - It looks a WHOLE lot better than it did on Friday!

-I don't want to work this week. But I have to. Let's hope those sixth graders are ready to see me two more days! Friday with this class went okay, but it could be much better. I am counting on them to make that choice today, and I'm going to do everything I can to facilitate that. This is a group of really good, funny kids, who have been plagued with a less-than-stellar regular teacher. It's too bad. Hopefully today's sunshine will be felt inside as well!

I hope you have sunshine, too.

I just finished sewing a table runner for a friend. She wanted to pick the fabric and the embellishment, but she doesn't sew. I put it on my table just to see how it turned out, and now I think I might just have to make one for myself! The only problem is that with about an inch left to hem, my sewing machine fell apart. A part (the one that holds the needle...kind of essential) literally fell off, so I tried a quick fix to get the last inch sewn, but there's still an extra piece I can't figure out how to get back on. I think I'll try the internet for a solution. Until then, the machine will be retired to the closet...I've used up all of my creative juice for one day, anyway.

It's cold. And raining. And it looks like it'll be this way for days...still. I've started taking a vitamin D pill in addition to my multivitamin after many suggestions (and literature on the internet like this: "It is very important for individuals with limited sun exposure to include good sources of vitamin D in their diet."). I'm an individual with limited sun exposure. Maybe I can find a support group for that..."Hi, I'm Amy, and I don't get much sun." Choral response: "Hi Amy!" At this point, I'm not ruling it out.

Netflix...I should get two movies on Tuesday. I spent about five minutes setting up the "Movies You'll Love" section, rating movies I've seen and such. It's like it's in my mind. The first movie that popped up as a movie they know I'll love is Goonies. Like I said, it's as if they are in my mind. I thought I'd do the two week free trial while Will was gone, see some girl movies, then if I see us using it we'll keep the subscription and start getting movies we'll both like. My good neighbor friend uses Netflix and loves it...I know Blockbuster has one of these deals, too, but we don't have a store close enough to use the feature where you can return movies at the store, so we decided Netflix would be the best one for us.

So, do you have it? Love it? Hate it? Just curious...

Google owns me now. I haven't been able to comment for a while now, and I assumed it was because they were going to make me make the switch. And they did. And I'm not happy about it. Argh.

Floor Before: Ugh.





















Floor After: Yay.

Well, I can barely hear myself think because the floor people are here to reinstall our hardwood that has been torn up since November due to leaky doors on the back of our house. I could not be more excited and I'm sitting right here in the living room watching the work, even though it's LOUD. I haven't felt like having people over (except for our special out-of-town visitors!) because of the disarray of the house - all due to the floor. They also had to take up the baseboards around the area where the floor is missing. The subfloor looks terrible and is a dust and dirt magnet. I've been having to vacuum the plywood floor because of all of the mess that gets tracked in from the back doors. The missing floor extends from the living room, through the eating area in the kitchen, past the start of the kitchen cabinets. The kitchen table can't go in the center of the room because of it, and the chair and ottoman in the living room have been at a crazy angle, taking up way more room than they should. All in all, it has been an inconvenience, but it's over TODAY!

On another note, I made a dessert last night that I was somewhat skeptical of, at least, before we tasted it! A while back there was a coupon in the paper for this:
It ended up being just over two dollars. Cheesecake is Will's favorite dessert, and after making it for is birthday I knew it was both expensive and time consuming. I thought I'd give this a try. I had graham crackers/butter/sugar at home to make the crust, so this was a cheap dessert. And surprisingly good. A note to anyone who tries it: Use an electric mixer to whip it up before putting it in the crust. When I opened the tub it was not very smooth, so I whipped it for a minute or two and it turned out to be a perfect cheesecake consistency! It passed the cheesecake connoisseur's taste-test and I even sent a slice in his lunch box for a little midday snack.

That's all I've got for now. I'll have to post some floor pics (before and after) when they are done.

This week is spring break for the school district where I sub, so I've got a week off! Really, it's my second week in a row of no work because I took off last week while we had company. Speaking of that company, here are a few more pics of our week of fun in the sun (well, sun for most of the time)!

We participated in a Chili Cook-Off for Will's squadron. We didn't win. Anna and Matthew gave our chili the thumbs-up, and they're pretty picky, so we thought we were a shoe-in. What we forgot is that we're in the land of Yankee. I think ours might have been a little too spicy for the judges. Maybe next year?


We really enjoyed the Seattle Underground Tour. It was an interesting glimpse into the history of the city - funny tour guides, not too long, and lots of extra info about the area. It's not too expensive, but it is kinda creepy/cobwebby/stinky down there. All in all, I'd say it was worth it. I just wish Will could have gone with us!





Fish market. A must-see for any tourist because of the fame factor. Next time I have an extra fifty bucks, I'm actually going to buy some instead of just watching the spectacle of fish-throwing.


Traditional Pike's pic! Aren't they precious?


Will was able to arrange for us to see a jet. He gave the kiddos a grand tour, including a look out of the hatch at the top of the plane. The view was awesome as in the clear blue sky Rainier was out in all her glory. This really is a beautiful part of the country when you can see it!

I think our guests had a good time. We relaxed, we cooked out, we ate out, we toured, we walked, we saw, we conquered. I had one of the best weeks I've had since moving here.

So the only question I have is...Who's next???

We had a great day yesterday, our first full day of hosting Spring breakers! We had lunch at a local burger joint on the water, where the waitress noticed, "You're not from around here, huh?" Ha! I wonder how many times we'll hear that this week? Later in the afternoon we headed to Seattle for a Sonics game. So, they're not the best, but we had fun. They played the Nuggets and they really held their own there, off an on at least. The arena was nicer than we expected, and we got to see a part of town we hadn't been to before. The arena is right at the base of the Space Needle. To top it off, it was clear out towards the Sound (no views of Rainier today - very cloudy to the East) so we could see across to Bainbridge Island, etc. It ended up being a pretty late night for us, let alone for our visitors whose time zone is three hours ahead! Needless to say, the teenagers are still asleep. Will and I are enjoying coffee, quiet, and hoping the sunshine that greeted us this morning will stick around!