Thursday, May 28, 2009

My Granny. May she rest in peace!

My grandmother passed away last weekend. She died between 1 & 2am on Saturday. We had the graveside service on Tuesday, and we're planning the Memorial Service for Sunday, June 7th. She was a formidable woman, and I loved her lots.

We're going to have a time for family members to share a memory about Granny, and Gabby picked my Jello story. I re-wrote it the way it actually happened, which should be entertaining for those who knew her.

Currently, I have no idea what I'm going to say. I keep coming back to her stubbornness. The good and the bad...she insisted that Gabby would go blind if we didn't keep her bangs out of her eyes. But she prayed for all of her family, every day. We'd exasperate her at times, but she loved us all. She preached salvation to all of her sisters and their families, and rejoiced as she saw signs that her prayers had been answered.

The back page of her Bible had lists of the people that she prayed for every morning, which included not only her family, but all of our friends and anyone we mentioned to her.

As her memory faded, her stubbornness did not. Time may have stopped for her in 2005, but her love for her family and for Jesus never will.

She was very proud of the church and the school, and considered every person that attended the school a part of her family. She was proud of all of us.

I love her and I miss her, but I know I'll see her again one day, and I won't be surprised at all at how many people owe their presence in Heaven to her faithfulness!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Courtesy of my little sister

September 3rd, 2005.
Hair, make-up, dresses.
Flowers, flats, jewelry.
Family, pictures, smiles.
Tears of joy, shaking hands.
Sparkling white dress, red rubys.
Black tie, red vest.
Hand in hand, more smiles.
Two wooden doors, flowers being tossed.
Anxious glances, parents sniffling.

Slow moving steps, sweet soft music.
Red dresses, black ties.
More tears, I do's.
Two rings, one kiss.
Wide smiles, arm in arm.
Two wooden doors, more tears.
Microphone, maid of honor loves the bride.
Dancing, holding on tightly.
Cakes cut, kisses.
Bride, groom.
Husband, wife.
Car pulls up, dress stuffed in.
Happiness, joy, love.
Rings, kisses, smiles.
Love that will last a lifetime.

Saturday, October 18, 2008





:D

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

The urge to write

Lately, I've been hit by the bug to write.

I find myself sitting at my desk and between phone calls, an idea for a story pops into my head. I have a few ideas jotted down, and am working on a novel, but more ideas appear, and I wonder if I should just start writing there, or finish my work and then write.

I usually end up finishing my work, since we have to pay rent and eat and can't go naked...

But in the back of my mind, these thoughts are churning.

Time to carve out some time to write...

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Stupid Olympics

I don't know why NBC waits until 11:30 to start showing the events that we all want to watch. We were up until 1:30am watching Nastia Luken win the Women's All Around on Thursday night, then had to get up at 4:45 to be ready to fly to Spokane. I've been so exhausted from going to bed at midnight or later that when lunch rolls around, I try to catch some winks instead of walking...

The diet was back burnered for awhile. I guess my friend's attitude really did fry my cheese after all. Although, I didn't go totally crazy. I had chicken & vegetables for as many meals as Dov could stand it. We had hamburgers for a few meals. I finished off the Soy Power cereal...

This weekend at Silverwood, we ate decent. It was 102 degrees, so we had lots of water. And we did get an ice cream cone that was way out of control. I ordered a double scoop and I'm sure they packed a pint of ice cream on that cone...which if I had gotten two normal size scoops and was charged $4.00 for it, I wouldn't have been as happy, so there you go...I shared a lot of it with my niece who sat next to me saying "say peas" and opening her mouth like a little bird. Still, I ate the lions share.

After looking at the pictures from this weekend, however, I am back on track. Dov and I went to the store last night and picked up the whole produce section of QFC, lots of fish and chicken and the highest Fiber cereal and bread we could find.

I got stabbed in the foot by a catfish this weekend but I don't seem to be having any ill effects from it so I should be able to walk at lunch. (The poor little guy fell into the boat instaed of the water and while he was thrashing about, he stabbed me with his pectoral fin...hurt like you would not believe. I soaked my foot in peroxide for 90 minutes. Not a whole lot of swelling, and the wound is looking good, so I think I'll be okay. And now I know that I am offically not allergic to catfish poison.)

Anyway, for breakfast this morning, I had a 1/2 cup of cereal, a 1/4 cup of blueberries and a banana. For lunch, Dov made his lemon & onion chicken with rice. I also brought a Braeburn apple. For dinner tonight, we'll steam rockfish fillets and I'll roast the brussel sprouts and we'll have boiled fingerling potatoes with salt & pepper, olive oil & italian herbs.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Yay Activity!

So, my weekend was fantastic.

We rushed around the apartment like refugees packing up our essentials and stuffing the dogs into the truck to make it to catch the 6:30 ferry. Unfortunately, there was an hour wait, and then we missed the cut-off for the 7:20...We ended up having Pad Thai, which Dov picked up at a little hole in the wall near the Edmonds Ferry dock. It was not great, but it was better than the bag of candy he bought at the market next door...

The dogs did great, except that Bubbles barked at everyone who walked by on the Ferry - unfortunately, we were parked right next to the stairs to the upper deck...



We got into Forks at 10:45 and the Hotel was right out of No Country for Old Men. I wouldn't have stayed in it by myself, but at least it didn't reek of cigarette smoke.

The next morning, we slept in until nearly 9. It was really nice. We ate at the restaurant across the street and I had hash browns and sausage and eggs which I smushed all together. I had some whole wheat toast with it.

We drove out to Cape Flattery and hiked all the way to the point. It was a half hour walk down and 45 minutes back. It was beautiful, and the weather was perfect for walking - not too hot, and overcast enough to keep the sun from burning us to a crisp.



We drove and fished our way past Neah Bay, Port Townsend, Port Angeles and Port Gamble.

We stopped at several beaches along the way and fished. It rained cats and dogs the whole time, and we got soaked. I did catch a nice fish - unfortunately, Dov did not.

We got very excited in Port Angeles when we saw a sign stating $3.72 for regular gas a block up. When we got closer to the building, we discovered the gas station was for lease...

In Port Angeles, we stopped for dinner at a place called Gordie's Pizza & Pasta. We ordered a medium Canadian Bacon & Pineapple pizza and salads. We each had two slices and saved the rest.

We then drove to Eglon Point and fished some more, but we did not catch anything.

We got back to the house at 11pm.

Saturday morning, Dov had to work, and I ended up sleeping until 10am. I had a slice of leftover pizza for breakfast and went to my friend's house for an American Home party. I had a slice of key lime pie, and fortunately, I got to cut my own slice, so I sliced a thin one. We had hot tea. Then Melissa pulled out Lemon Sherbert and I had a small one.

When I got home, I had another slice of pizza for lunch.

For dinner, we went to my Aunt and Uncle's house and had barbecued pork, potato salad and beets with onions. I also had a beer and tortilla chips with guacamole. I was very proud of myself for dishing myself a small portion and not grazing.

Sunday, we had eggs and bacon for breakfast. We drove down to Fry's to return a cable and ended up buying way too much junk...

We went to Burgermaster for lunch. I had a hamburger, fries and a shake. Call it a last hurrah...

For dinner, we had Abby over to meet Bubbles. I bought a veggie tray as an appetizer and served a parmesean artichoke jalapeno dip. We grilled shrimp skewers, had salad, garlic bread, and a flank steak. It was fantastic.

For breakfast Monday, I had scrambeled eggs and an english muffin. For lunch I took a salad and put the remaining shrimps on it. I also took the remaining veggies and snacked on them all afternoon.

For dinner, I had some rye crackers and the parmesean dip. We had the fish I caught on Friday with a little rice. We had marinated it in olive oil, soy sauce and chicken stock. It had no flavor at all.

For breakfast this morning, I had a small bowl of granola.

For lunch, I had a salad from Quiznos.

For dinner, we grilled the leftover shrimp and veggies from dinner Sunday. We also grilled some salmon. We had a small salad.

I walked at lunch and after dinner today. I probably should not have picked the hottest day of the week to do that, but changing into shorts at my desk was an adventure...

I was very proud of myself. Now my foot hurts...

Thursday, July 31, 2008

It's not what you're eating...

So yesterday morning I had granola with dried strawberries for breakfast and a ham sandwich with american cheese for lunch. I had a pear from the Friday before, and discovered that I probably would have broken a tooth if I tried to eat it last week!

For dinner, I made tacos with guacamole but no cheese and had a tapioca cup. Then I had a whole wheat blueberry scone after our Bible Study. (We have a dessert after each one - I'm bringing it next week, so I'll have to find something good.)

I asked them to pray for my friend and that whole situation, so we'll see how God works it out.

I have to say, though, that I was pretty proud of myself for not letting my friend's emotional outburst sabotage my eating.

We didn't get a chance to walk last night, but tomorrow should more than make up for any activity I didn't get today.

Breakfast this morning was granola. Lunch was chicken breast and lettuce wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla with low fat ranch dressing. It was dry. I also had some red grapes.

I didn't walk at lunch because I was trying to get some dog food in Woodinville, but the PetSmart there doesn't carry their food. I'll have to stop at the other store on my way home.

Tonight for dinner - we're eating on the road. We decided this morning to drive to Forks tonight so we can fish all day on Friday. That's why I stopped by the pet store at lunch. I ended up buying another harness so Wednesday can sit with Bubbles in the backseat and be ok.

It's a four hour drive. The hotel has a check-in until 11pm, but the man said if I called he'd leave a key out for me. Really looking forward to this fishing trip.

It's going to be a busy weekend - with no forseeable break until the 23rd...

Time to brush up on the serenity prayer...