Souvenirs

If you travel, do you pick up souvenirs as you go? It used to be, when I traveled, I picked up something for each of the kids, then each of the grandkids, as well as cool stuff for our home, so that I’d have reminders of the wonderful trips we’ve taken.

Then our family exploded in size. We have 5 children (plus partners), 10 grandchildren, and are about to welcome our 3^rd great-grandchild. I can’t leave enough empty room in my suitcase for that many gifts! As well, the bank account would take a significant hit. I love every single one of our family, but there came a point where no one got a “My grandparents went to [insert destination here] and all I got was this lousy t-shirt” gifts. Lol.

Nowadays, hubby and I are old enough that we’re more into downsizing than clutter. We still travel, and still shop, but buying something for the house has to be purposeful and meaningful. For instance, last year we remodeled our family room. Pictures ended up in different spots and we had a place where we needed to buy something to go there. So, while in Alaska on a cruise, we bought the art pictured below.

And, when we took a road trip to Mt. Rushmore, where I based my Earth Legacy dystopian fantasy series, I bought a coffee mug. It’s the perfect size and I use it 6 days out of every week, so it’s very useful.

I can see why destinations encourage younger people to visit. They haven’t yet filled their house with knickknacks like we have. While we’re not done traveling (I hope) we tend to leave our money in restaurants more than gift shops these days. Or spend it on experiences. Making memories is what it’s really all about, right?

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Winter Cabin – No Adventure

We held our annual winter cabin weekend with the kids and grands in January. When you total up our kids, partners, grands, and great-grands, hubby’s and my family total 22. Soon to be 23 as a great-grandson is due in March.

Eleven made it to the cabin. Since COVID, everyone makes their own decision to go or not go. No pressure. This was our 24^th year of doing this and I’m so grateful for this tradition. Our family has spread out along the west US coast so it’s a time to come together in person and catch up on our lives.

And let our lives go for a little bit. No hustle, no bustle, just us. Visiting, eating, playing games, eating, painting rocks and wood and canvases, and yes, eating. (I came home and had to go on a diet!)

Our talented daughter’s painted rocks.

Pay no attention to my moon rock failure. Lol.

The cabin we usually stay in is no longer rented out, so we found a new place for this year. Smaller, but with two separate living spaces so we were cozy but not on top of each other.

I don’t know if I’ve ever relaxed as much as I did at this year’s cabin. Food prep was simple and we only left the place once, to check out a distillery in a nearby town. In fact, that’s really the only “adventure” I can tie to this year’s cabin. I had a lavender-infused lemon drop. Never had anything like that before and it was yummy!

Now cabin is over and we’ve all gone back to our lives. Hubby and I are blessed because our kids are close, not only with each other, but with us. So we talk regularly throughout the year. It’s just nice, once in a while, to gather in person, you know?

Our daughter brought this sand thing and it mesmerized us all. It’s very peaceful to just watch the sand fall. Very meditative.

Have a wonderful month, everyone!

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Endings and Beginnings

Happy New Year! It’s really just another day, but it feels full of new possibilities. I always have a more positive attitude at the first of the year. Yes, it degrades a bit as the year goes on, but each year, I think I make it further and further before that happens. Lol.

Before retiring, my husband worked as a construction electrician. Every job he started, he knew he would eventually work his way out of when the build was completed. It’s very much the same way with writers. Every story we start, we are working toward a finish line. When we reach it, we start the next story or series.

Such is the crossroads I am at. The sixth and final planned book in the Willow Bay series will release on the 14^th of January. If you’ve read any of the books, you’ve met Willow Bay’s resident street-person/matchmaker, Gladys. In Operation Ethan, not only does the grumpy town Fire Chief meet his match in the playful hotel manager, but Gladys’s own story unfolds.

I love Willow Bay. I love the characters, the townspeople, and the town itself. I will be sad to leave it, to not write more fresh stories set there. We grow our characters into heart-whole people who learn to live life to the fullest on the pages and now, for me, it’s time to move on. I can’t say I won’t ever write more Willow Bay stories, but for now, it’s time to say goodbye.

I am both sad and excited. There’s a grief that lingers when you leave characters behind, but also excitement for the new story, new setting, new series. And that’s what I will be looking forward to after January 14^th. And maybe, just maybe, one of those secondary characters from Willow Bay will get their story down the road so I can revisit my happy place.

I wish for you beginnings that are peace-filled, full of laughter and joy, and lots of words, either written or read.

Hubby and I out for a chilly winter walk. 🙂

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Happy 92nd birthday!!!

I’m a day late on my blog for this month. Actually a day and a half, since I usually set them to post shortly after midnight my time. But I had good reason. I wanted to take this month’s blog to pay homage to my Aunt Merna, who turned 92 years young today.

As a child, I remember my Aunt Merna as this impeccably dressed woman with an impish smile, a great sense of humor, and a hug for any kid within reach. She couldn’t have children of her own, so adopted all of us nieces and nephews, and there were/are plenty of us to hug.

Now that I’m older, I realize that she was Wonder Woman in a day and age where women stayed in the background.  She worked full time as an administrative assistant and kept up with everything around the house. All the cooking and cleaning, etc. An independent woman.

She needs a little more help these days, but that doesn’t diminish the sparkle in her eyes or that impish grin of hers. She finds joy in each day, even though her body complains. I admire her.

Several of us got together and took Aunt Merna out to lunch today to celebrate and the woman who said she didn’t celebrate birthdays anymore ate it up, along with the free hot fudge sundae!

Happy, birthday, Auntie. Let’s do this again next year. 🙂 And a merry, merry Christmas to those who celebrate. To everyone, whether this is your holiday or not, I wish you a peaceful and happy December and entrance to a brand new year full of new possibilities.

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To Everything, There is a Season…

I have always been more of a cooler weather person than a heat of summer person. I have good friends living in Arizona and listening to them, the possibility of becoming a “snow-birder” in winter is very enticing. Honestly, though, I think I’d miss the Pacific Northwest weather. We get a touch of all the seasons. Lots of color in fall and spring, a bit of snow in winter, and abundant sunshine in the summer. I like those changes. In fact, maybe for me, it’s more about the change than the season. I don’t ever want to stagnate, so I need occasional change in my life to make me feel like I’m moving forward.

Fall: Color in a local park

Spring: Getting ready to plant.

Embracing Summer

As I type this, it’s overcast. Rain is coming in later. And it rained yesterday. I went for a walk in it and loved it. Granted, I no longer splash in puddles. I walk around them these days. But it’s rejuvenating to smell the rain and hear it fall.

And winter? I love hibernating. Honestly, I could sit at the ocean and storm watch, never getting a thing done, and be completely happy with my life. Hmmm. So much for not stagnating? Lol.

Enjoying the snow (last year)

Washington’s coast in winter

What season is your favorite? Whichever one is, I hope you get to embrace them all, because nature rocks!

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To Cruise or Not to Cruise

We got to take a cruise last month! When COVID hit, we cancelled four cruises we had scheduled. Last month, we finally got to take a replacement cruise. And you know what? It was awesome. We did Alaska, which we’ve done twice before. This time, instead of doing the inside passage, we did a round trip Seattle which took a route on the west side of Vancouver Island.

Embarkation, settling in, and our favorite foods.

And we caught COVID. As careful as we were, masking on board ship and ashore, washing out hands, we still caught COVID. Thankfully, we’re vaxed and boosted so didn’t have a bad case. Cold symptoms and I had a headache for a few days. The worst thing was the lack of energy. That took a while to return.

And now that we’re past that, I have to ask myself if it was worth it.

The answer is: Yes.

We’ve always enjoyed cruising. You unpack once and see so many places. Even having been to Alaska, it was great to go again. Like greeting old friends. And we made some new ones on the cruise, which I’m very grateful for.

On board ship

And now, looking forward, we’ll take more cruises. Maybe not for a few months. I’d personally like to see what COVID does this winter. But we’ll embark again as it really is our favorite way to vacation.

The views

We saw lots of whales, some dolphins, but no eagles this time.

I hope you’ve been able to find a way to get away and relax. Retired or working, we all need a change of scenery once in a while.

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The Renovation is DONE!

In April, we started demolition on our old, paneled family room, intent on freshening it up with new carpeting and sheet-rock. But first, while we had a wall open, we had a chance to update the last of the old plumbing. Now, I know renovations don’t always go according to schedule. I get that. But complications with the plumbing delayed the family room we’d moved everything out of for over a month. Which meant our contractor went on to another job and had to squeeze us in a day here and a day there. Sigh.

So we didn’t move back into the family room until August. Four months later. And you know what?

WORTH IT! We are loving the “new” room and even managed to keep some of the clutter down when putting things back. A win-win.

Old:

New:

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Where the heck did July go???

Ack. My apologies. I completely forgot to blog in July. With good reason. We were crazy busy. But I dislike not keeping up with my responsibilities.

So, what all happened in July?

1.  My niece-in-law went into labor at 28 weeks with her twins. Very survivable, but it’s been scary times full of prayers. They were born at 2.6 and 2.8 pounds and needed breathing assistance. I’m happy to say they are both now over four pounds and off breathing assistance. Yay! These boys are fighters.

2.  My granddaughter is part of an elite Drum and Bugle Corps. They come from all over and meet once a month to practice. Then, before their performance tour, they met and stayed in a high school for 2 1/2 weeks, sleeping on the gym floor, to practice 10 hours a day. We had the pleasure of catching one of their performances (most of them were in California) and we were in awe. Playing music, walking backwards, counting steps. They were amazing!

3.  Another granddaughter, during her month off from medical school, got married. That was a joyous occasion. They looked wonderful and the weather was awesome for the outdoor venue. Our soon-to-be doctor and her fireman husband are so good together. Seeing them so happy is very rewarding and I’m smiling as I type this.

4.  We had a family campout the weekend after the wedding. Whew! July’s activities, by this time, were piling up and I was getting a touch tired. But this was an easy-peasy campout and we did a lot of relaxing and rejuvenating.

5.  Lastly, but certainly not least, I helped Marie Tuhart with her table at a Readers and Writers conference. That was a total blast. We got to chat with so many readers and other authors. Saw some wonderful table decorations and even sold a few books. I’ve already signed up for the next one on July 24, 2024. So if you think you’ll be in the Seattle/Tacoma area, stay tuned for more details.

So that was my month. Now, I’m grateful for some down time. I’m behind on a book, so need to seriously focus on getting that done and to my critique partners.

I hope you’re having a wonderful summer, with temperate weather and just enough on the calendary to make it fun.

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Delays and Jubilees

I’d hoped to show a finished remodel this month, but we’ve had a few delays. Primarily plumbing. One of the walls we are sheet-rocking has the last of the old plumbing in it. It made sense to redo that last bit of plumbing before throwing sheet-rock up. However, our plumber got in an accident, which thankfully, he will recover from. But it took us another month to find a plumber.

That piping is now all done, thank goodness. And the sheet-rock is up.

But no tape/mud yet. And our guy is fitting us in between other jobs because of our delay, so it might be another couple weeks before the next thing happens.

I find it funny that I’m not a patient person but this isn’t driving me nuts. Since we have a front room and a family room, it’s not a hardship to be without it. At least for me. Hubby wants his space back. 🙂

With all that’s going on in the world, I send prayers for all the horrible parts, but try to focus on the happy parts. Like the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee which just ended. I may not be British, but I was grinning all weekend as I watched festivities. What an amazing life and accomplishment! And did you all see the spot with the Queen and Paddington Bear? Priceless.

On that smiling note, I’ll leave you for this month. Have a wonderful summer solstice. I hope you get sunny weather at just the right temperature.

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Remodel and Renewal

Remember paneled walls? Not the cool wainscoting or shiplap, but the old, brown, thin stuff with the dark indented lines to make it look like fake wood? Well, that’s our family room in a nutshell. Straight out of the 20^th century. 🙂

We made the decision that it was time to bring the room into the 21^st century. The paneling is gone. Hallelujah!  My husband did all the demo and is in the process of re-insulating the room.

Then the plumbers come in to re-pipe the last part of the house that hasn’t had new plumping since it was built. After that, it’s sheetrock time! I can hardly wait to see what it looks like, and I’ll have to post finished pics if/when we ever get this done.

Once the sheetrock is done, it’s time for my project. Cleaning the fireplace rock.

I’ve done some research into it and it just takes time. I’m also considering re-painting the grout. The sheetrock will be so light, I think the grout will look dull in comparison. But, I won’t be able to decide until I get the rock cleaned.

While waiting for my turn, I decided to get away from it all and renew my psyche in my happy place. The ocean. Whether calm or blustery, it soothes my soul.

I hope you have a place you can head for to renew yourself. We all need that sometimes, eh?

Have a wonderful May!

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