Happy 235th Birthday America!

We have had a delightful time celebrating America's birthday with a five day weekend.

Our Mullein is also pretty happy.  It's about 7 feet tall and gorgeous.  We're not entirely sure how we got it.  We nearly pulled it out this spring thinking it was a weed, but we're glad we thought twice about it.  You can see it has little bell shaped flowers.

On Thursday we went to Tacoma for a little art tour.   There were several highlights, but the museum of glass was way up there.  They have a "hot studio" with stadium seating so you can watch them make glass sculpture right before your eyes. It took a well organized team of four artists to make one very cute little glass elephant.

Hot Studio

Glass sculpture on the way to the glass museum. 

Hey!  Look over there....are those cupcakes?

There was also a cupcake bakery with only cupcakes.  Fabulous ones at that!  There was a steady stream of people getting their sugar fix ourselves included.

"Why yes, these are cupcakes!"

Yesterday, I did it!  I made my very first home made pie and pie crust.  It's chocolate crust, with chocolate and cherry filling.  I was a little unsure how it would turn out...but it was pretty darned good. That said, I don't know how grandma did it.  It took ALL DAY to make this one little pie.  Sure am happy folks liked it.

Chocolate Cherry Pie

We enjoyed it with 7 friends who came over for grilling (on our new grill!) and games.  Now we're off to see the Aquasoxs baseball and fireworks out of centerfield.

Happy Birthday!

Damn It!

Okay.... I just got an important spelling lesson from my husband. Apparently "damn" is spelled "d-a-m", at least when you're talking about water and not fire.

I know better now.

Infurstructure Tour 2011

Aaron and I took a much-needed long weekend last week. We went on a tour of Eastern Washington. Every day we hiked, ate ice cream, and saw something new. For the first time in over a year, we saw the sun. Hello giant orb in the sky!

First, one needs to fuel up. This was at the Portage Bay Cafe in Seattle. We go about once a year. Think this is enough to sustain us 'til lunch?

In no particular order, here's our trip.

We went to Grand Coulee Damn. Overall it was very impressive, though the workers seemed to have a real complex about the Hoover Damn. Apparently, Grand Coulee is bigger and better, but it gets none of the glory as Hoover. We can thank Roosevelt and the CCC for the Grand Coulee. The visitor center is one of the best I've been too and I totally recommend a stop here.

These very cool designs on the wall of the damn are structural, but I loved the design.

Overflow water being released over the damn. I said, "man, that's a lot of aeration". I thought to myself, "wonder about the environmental impact....but, shhhh, don't say anything...it's too much like work." The day we got home we were greeted by a front page story on the water overflow from the damn killing off fish.

Turbines. We toured the damn with 15 well-behaved boy scouts.

On our drive we saw lots of cool stuff, including this wild horses sculpture near Vantage, WA.

We went through a bunch of small towns, all with very cool vintage signs. Turns out every town had an Elks Club, and Rotary, and ....(who knew!?) a MOOSE CLUB!!

We happened along the Blues Festival in Electric City, population 922 people. The festival boasts attracting, "hundreds" of people. Aaron and I figured that that was about the right size for us. We're not totally into the blues, but why not stop by and see the Americana?

I expected a hippy-dippy scene...I did NOT expect to be easily 20 years younger than the average attendee. We were the youngest, possibly the the skinniest, least motorcycle riding, soberest attendees there! Aaron and I sat on the grass eating pizza as the 60 year old, gray-pony-tailed-bikers stumbled along in front of us. It was fantastic. Aaron turned to me and said, "this is absolute debauchery". He was right. It was something else. But not in a bad way. More in an, 'everyone should do this once' way.

We took to the dance floor and were having ourselves a time...you might as well take it all in, we figured. We were about 5 hours from home on the other side of the state. It was Friday night. One man caught my eye. I kept staring through a song or two. Eventually I leaned over and yelled in Aaron's ear, that it was the spitting image of one of my engineer bosses. Aaron say, "No way. It can't be." and dismissed my observation. During a quick lull in the music I yelled his name into the air and the boss-man turned around. Imagine both our shock and dismay. We did the obligatory introductions and then Aaron and I ditched the festival. Partying with the bosses is never a good career move. It was time for bed anyway....we left the festival up to the retirees and headed to our motel.

We hiked every day and I have vowed to Aaron (and now in front of all of you) that I will take some Friday afternoons off and he can pick me up from work and we can go to some close-to-home hikes. It was really nice to get out and walk around a bit.

Love these cool lily-like flowers.

Yes, I'm hiking in pearls. The pearl jeweler commercial says, "she can where them day or night; for casual or special occasion". As far as I'm concerned, hiking with my honey is both casual AND special.

We went to the PSE Wind Farm! This was uber-cool. We're driving along and then come over a crest and TA- DAAAA GIANT windmills surround us! Next to the Blue Fest, the most friendly people we met were at the PSE Wind Farm. They took us on a tour, let us look inside a windmill, let us touch a propeller, and hike in the farm. It was really, super fun. Loved it! AND we got to wear hard hats. (which was ridiculous because there was nothing you could have possibly have hurt yourself on, but I'm not one to shy away from gear.) Notice the pears, again. Maybe next time I'll leave them at home, but when I packed I thought, "these go with everything and my honey made them..." Somehow I also though the blue hoody would be perfect too. Doesn't matter...it was vacation!




Along the way we mapped our route. This is me showing Aaron the way home.
It was a vacation after all....
The end.

.....okay, not exactly the end:

In the past month, we've planed a million things, though the sun won't come out and do it's part.

We've taken Adam to the "Street League Skate Boarding Championship" --- it was 4 hours of awesomeness.

We hosted game night.

I've been gathering donation of experiences for the Brain Cancer Walk.

And Aaron attended a HUGE metal jewelers convention in Seattle. It was really great and he learned a lot. I went to the trunk show they had and the work was simply amazing.

Hope everyone's good.

Hugs, from Shady Seattle.

WELCOME TO FUNTOWN

Just a couple of weeks ago (although it already feels like a hundred years!) my pal Heidi Ho came for a girls weekend out. Officially named, Funtown, we had a blast. I had entirely forgotten just how much fun Heidi and I are capable of making. Since we were dorm neighbors on the Ice and also shared a desk in a small office with two other people and then worked together on tiny islands in the middle of the Pacific, we have formed one of those rare friendships where we can be together 24 hours a day and not even flinch. No caveats like, "I like her, but you know, only in small doses." Which I think roughly translates into, "I really don't like that person but I don't want to say so." None of that here! This is the real deal. Thankfully, Aaron seemed to quite like the AnnerAndHeidi Show and was more than happy to drive us all over town.

As tradition holds, Heidi picks new restaurant for us to try when she visits. This time it was How to Cook a Wolf, which was AMAZING. Whoever visits us next gets to go there with us. It was a tiny place with family style Italian...really good Italian (not pizzeria Italian).

We went on the town to see the women impersonators at Julia's. GREAT fun! As an added bonus some friends from the Ice were able to make it. That's me and Heidi in the middle:

Aaron made a wax model of a ring Heidi is designing. The last time we were in the Twin Cities, Heidi and Aaron made a sketch on a napkin and then left in the middle of dinner to posed like a couple at a local jewelery store so they could get her finger measured. Some how we managed to make it all the way back to Seattle with the napkin still with us!

Trip to the space needle. We went to the top and had a great view even though it rained most of the weekend.

Visiting the Fremont Troll:

The Reeds, an art installation at Seattle Center. It's just here because it's cool.

Then Heidi went home and I was completely and totally depressed for a couple of weeks. Can't wait until either one of us wins the lotto because then we can buy side-by-side houses and see each other all the time.

Now for the garden report:

Our trillium are in full bloom and some of them are giants!

Hellebore have been prolific! We bought yet another one today.

Speaking of flower shopping... Aaron got up this morning and made a map of FOUR flower sales and we were off. You would think one or two stops would be plenty but we went until we just could not look at one more plant. The trunk of the car and the entire back seat were covered. I planted for 2 1/2 hours tonight and I only made a dent!

Two weeks ago Aaron brought home twenty, count 'em, TWENTY fuchsias! I spent a night and got all of them planted.


Today we planted dahlias, pansies, violas, petunias, carnations, and snapdragons. There are still a lot to go, but we should have a truly spectacular sea of color this summer. We can't wait! Come visit us and see for yourselves!

Come over here and take a load off...

After years of talking about it we finally bit the bullet and bought a living room chair. (I know we're the slowest decision makers ever. Boy, do I ever know...)

Our furniture situation is sketchy. Some things - real nice. Some other things - straight from the Goodwill. Once a year, our lone house guest comes to town. To watch a movie, we'd all sit like the Simpsons lined up on the couch. Last summer before Debby arrived I said, "That's it! We need a chair!" Off to the Goodwill. We ended up with a not very comfortable rocking chair.
Functional? Well, yes. Comfy and asthetically pleasing? Mmmm? Not so much.

This week our second house guest ever, Heidi Ho, is coming to town, and we were pushed into action. No, not the Astro Recliner that I've been eyeing for about a year. Not something off the show room floor that we got a good deal on. Instead we went to the local funky furniture resale place. Aaron walked right past this gem, but I plopped down. Feet up. I knew that was the best piece of furniture in the funkeuphoriam.

Aaron, in disbelief that it could possibly be comfortable, took a seat. "Ohhhh, this is niiiiice." Dusty, nice, and a hidious shade of 1980 Forest Green. We were in!

So with that, our chair saga comes to an end, and we anxiously await Heidi's visit. Her thrown is ready -

Ready, Set, Build!

It's been a crazy-seven days! Last Saturday (as in a couple of days ago) Aaron and I got up early and headed to the Museum of Flight for the annual high school Popsicle stick bridge competition.

Here's an example of what the students and bridges looked like. I was plesantly surprised to see a number of Lynyrd Skynyrd t-shirts and one bridge was painted like the album cover of The Dark Side of the Moon. I told them they got bonus points from this judge! (Classic rock will always be in style!)

Students from around the Puget Sound make bridges out of white glue and Popsicle sticks. Then they compete against each other to see who's bridge can withstand the most weigh/pressure. It's put in a machine that pushes on the bridge until is fails. The top bridge withstood something close to a 1,000 pounds! That's what white glue and some good joints will get you!

We were "technical judges"...and, yes, we use the term "technical" very loosely. Here's Aaron at the Judges table. Our job was to take the measurements of the bridge and say whether the bridge met the qualifications. If it did not mean the rules then the students had the option to try and fix it. Everyone else at the table are people who work on my bridge project.





The emcees make it fun for all the high schoolers and their little brothers and sisters (note the clown nose). They did a lot of jokes and quizzes and prize give aways. They did a great job of keeping everyone engaged. Below is the machine that squished the bridges until they broke.

You can see that judging can be very nerve racking!!!

We had a GREAT time and we'll likely do it again next year.

Now, go back a week and a few days ago and you'd find Aaron in the studio working around the clock (and we're not kidding...like all day and all night) on his "over the top piece". Here's what it looked like -

...and here's what Aaron looked like.

Just in the nic-of-time Aaron dropped of the piece for the show. They did an amazing job of displaying it and the opening was crazy-fun. The place was hopping and there was lots of good energy. Here's Aaron putting the over-the-top piece on his model.

And here's the model. She did a fabulous job. She said it felt comfortable, which was a real bonus.

Finally, here's the crown gathering around to take a closer look. That might be my favorite shot of the day.

Now Aaron is catching up on his back-log and I'm starting to ramp up on the brain cancer walk.

Not one candle, bottle of lotion or picture frame in the bunch -- now THAT'S a birthday!

Birthday Month is well underway and boy has it been a great time!! Everyone should turn 40 at least once.

My birthday started with a 4-day weekend. I figure one day for each decade. It was really nice to have a mini-break from work and I think the 4-day weekend could become a tradition.

Over my birthday, my pal Karen took me to the spa and can I just say it was AMAZING!! The pedicure, movie and popcorn were good. But the GirlTime was even better. It was a really fun way to kick-off the festivities.

When I returned home, Aaron had done a million little things around the house that were driving me crazy. Up went the coat rack - no more pile of coats on the floor! Shelves were put up, pictures hung, house cleaned.... man, that was wonderful.

We had dinner with friends, over and over and over again. Which ended with a big dinner at Marchellos - say it with me: YUM-MEE!

As it turns out 40 is Year of the Drinking Vessel. You might have thought that was reserved for 21st, but you'd be wrong. Check out all the glasses I received this year. The best part is I like them all a lot (the tumblers are going to be great for picnicking on our deck this summer).

Karen, gave me this "40 and Fabulous" wine goblet, that's been well broken in this week. I think we're going to pass it around like a traveling trophy to all the 40-somethings this year. Aaron can fill it with root beer and still be fabulous.

Not that it's all about the gifts, but you should know that I received not only this WHAMIT punching bag, but also a whoopee cushion! A WHAMIT is a weighted punching bag that bounces back up when you hit. Ben (6) and Morgan (8) picked them out on their own and KNEW how much I could use them. I think they are wise beyond their years. How did they know I really could use a whamit at work? Brilliant!


I had a really fun time. Thanks to my Honey who made my birthday extra special and all the nice cards and surprises. I'm one lucky girl.
Now? On with the decade!

A Star is Born

My latest critter. Made for baby Anya. She is the daughter of friends of ours. Aaron knows them from Ultimate. I know them from work. Small world and yet oh, so different...

Star is fuzzy, pink and very compact. I think she has a "Ooo! What's that!" expression. Perfect for a baby girl. It was hard to pack her up and send her and send her away but another home awaits!







In other news:
We have gutters now. I supposed we should feel bad that we were sitting in the house eating cookies while one guy, single handily installed them in the freezing rain. To our credit, we did offer him a warm drink and cookies and he politely declined. The gutters look great and so far our room is awesome. We love it!

Last night the Seattle Brain Cancer Walk committee reconvened. I'm very excited to get started on another year. Mark your calendars! September 10th at Seattle Center!