All Aboard the "Get Well" Train

As I head into week two of recovery, I have no shortage of elementary school-style activities to keep me occupied. My fabulous co-workers were so kind to provide coloring books, crayons, puzzles and paper dolls for my crafting pleasure. I think I may even crack open that glow-in-the-dark jigsaw puzzle tonight.

My first week of recovery has gone well and nurse Colby has done an extraordinary job of keeping me comfortable, well fed and appropriately medicated! And he has done all of this while working feverishly on his dissertation. He really is the one who deserves all the extra TLC at this point.

A Different Island Vacation

Jim & Danielle came out for a visit that took us to Orcas Island. The weather a little different than Maui as it rained like cats and dogs much of the time, but also broke apart and gave us some welcomed sunshine and nifty fog that clung to the Sound. Naturally, we got a few days of power shopping and dining under our belts in Seattle before setting sail to the Island. What a great, easy going time we had!

Paradise Found

Seattle has been terribly unforgiving this year and hasn't produced anything that resembles summer. So off we went to Maui in search of sun and warmth. Luckily we found exactly what we were looking for! Taking advantage of a great airfare and off-season rates we stayed for a week in a nice little condo right on the beach in Kehei, Maui. We happily spent mornings and evenings on our lanai watching sunrises and sunsets and long lazy days at the beach. We did drag ourselves off the beach a few times for some sailing and paddle boarding.

It's a good thing we got our year's dose of vitamin D, since we returned to rain and temps in the mid-50's. What a homecoming. It's a good thing we have a trip to Austin coming up in October to keep our spirits up.

The Greatest Gift

When you dog sit one of the sweetest dogs on earth (Hardy), you receive the coolest gifts in thanks. Hardy's parents, Michael & Brennan, know us well enough to give the gift of fresh and safe food storage! The timing couldn't have been better since, just today, Colby participated in the second annual sausage making festival. This time he came home with 12 lbs of spicy italian sausage.

I wonder what will be sizzling on our grill this summer? Wanna come over?

Seattle Has ONE Nice Day

This Saturday the clouds parted and we had one day (out of 12 consecutive days of rain) to make some progress on our raised beds. We have devised a plan to keep the nasty neighborhood cats out of our veggie garden by draping bird netting over the hoops. And speaking of hoops...it seemed like a good time to take the hula hoops out for a spin!

St. Louis in less than 4 days

Last week was a multi-purpose trip to St. Louis. Colby attended and presented at the annual SAA conference. I decided to tag along so we could make it a family visit and to meet some of my colleagues at AT&T.

The absolute highlight of the trip was spending the weekend with Mike, Missy, Carlyn and Chris. They showed us a good midwestern time that included some serious youth sports action, BBQ and family togetherness. We miss them already!

Ribs 'n Thangs

Friend, colleague, and raconteur James was in Seattle from Japan for a few days, and we celebrated his return to the U.S. of A. with a good 'ol rib smoke. Started off with some homemade sausages for lunch, then smoked four racks of ribs to go with our cole slaw, baked beans, cornbread, and wasabi-flavored Kit Kats (James brought that from Japan). Then we all laid around and groaned while loosening our pants. Success.