Back From Work!

Last night we didn't end up doing much. It was 6:30pm before we decided what we were going to do for dinner, and thought about taking a drive - but neither of us had any ambition to do anything - so we snuggled up, read our books, chatted online and went to sleep! :)

We didn't have a very restful night last night....Rosa was a pill. George (the new cat) thought at 6:30am this morning it was time to get up...... so at 7:30 we got up, showered, drank our coffee, and then were to work by 9am. We worked until about 12pm and then came home had some lunch.

K is now taking a walk with her dad in Anacortes and I'm hanging out contemplating what eventful things I'd like to do and/or research :) We decided against the Lasagna last night.......so may make it this afternoon, but honestly have no ambition, but now we have this fresh bread that needs to be used! So, we'll see..........

We have another lady off of work this week for vacation, and some of our people are filling in on Friday Harbor for another co-worker that doesn't have back up....so we'll be short handed again! Working today really helps us to feel somewhat in control (even if for free).

We're going to head East next weekend and visit Mom and use our new hot water tank! :) The drive should be enjoyable (Hwy 20 - North Cascades) and we're in no hurry.

We were researching this morning (and I'm going to do a bit more) about the laws in Washington State. We're really needing benefits to be held under one of us. You'd think Fidelity National Title (The Largest Title Insurer) would offer domestic partner benefits........and now what we are realizing.....is that they are having to offer it to people in CA - so we should be able to get them here. This would solve soooooooo many problems with us.

That's it for now...... maybe more in a bit.
Randi

Saturday Afternoon

K and I came home and ate some lunch and sat down and watched We Are Marshall. It was a great movie! I tried to stay awake.......even had a plan to knit after lunch so I could stay awake (doing something) but ended up sleeping....... I did get to see the end. Good movie (That is what I saw of it! :)

We then jetted to the local knitting store that closed at 4pm (we left after 3pm) and they showed me possibly what I was doing to add stitches.....and were no help other than that! :( I don't know what I was expecting?.....a sweet, personal helper(s) like those from LIG? *sigh* I'll just continue knitting my purple scarf and figure something else out after it............

K is out putzing in the yard......and I'm playing online. I feel like doing something, but not quite sure what it is........maybe we'll go for a walk tonight and/or go see a free concert in a local park or something.......*shrug*

We have to go to work tomorrow..........THAT I am not looking forward to.......but we went to another office on Friday (K & I) to see how a few things went and it took most of our day and then I didn't feel like working much!

Also, I got a phone call the other day......and K was trying to figure some stuff out financially for us......(which I thought was for Coulee) but ended up being so that we could possibly try for a baby soon *huge grin* and THAT made my day. We still have a lot to save..........BUT there is the idea in sight!

Off to piddle online some more.........
Randi

Saturday A.M.

We have been blessed most nights recently, to be awoken to a cat named Rosa at 4:03 am climbing on us. UGH.

We woke about 7am (I hate getting up early on the weekends.....but the daylight wakens us!) and we showered, had our coffee, read the paper and then headed out for garage sales! YAHOO!!! Here is what we found:

A garden digger (the ones with 3 prongs) but it is like made of cast iron (heavy duty)
a randy travis greatest hits cd
a vacation fund glass jar collector :)
a huge tarp for $3.00
a rubbermaid cereal container (big) for .50
a carpet remnant (big) for coulee $2.00
a broom for .50 (coulee)
eat, pray, love - the book - for .50
baby bjorn for $20

I think that is it??......and we saw some old friends too! :)

K is now taking a nap, the tractor is out back plowing the field and making a ruckus :) we stopped at a local bread shop and got us a loaf of cibatta for some garlic bread tonight to go with our homemade lasagna mmmmmmmmm... whose coming for dinner? ;)

Friday Night Festivities

We went out to Washington Park last night and celebrated K's neice (Malaney (Muh-Lay-Knee)'s birthday! (We got her a purple basbeball glove and a pink soccer ball :) It was a great time.....great to see all the kids and play around! The sun was shining but the wind made it a bit chilly. Here are some pictures! We didn't get but a few of the BIG girls because they were off playing!

BABY CARLO

RANDI AND BABY CARLO

K AND BABY CARLO

MALANEY (and AMELIA) and friends

K w/twins (CARLO & MAGGIE)

MAGGIE

Pico De Gallo Italian Style

On Thursday at work ladies were talking all day about chips and salsa....that they were craving it. Well....no one actually got any, and so K and I had decided after work we'd head to the store and pick up some pico de gallo and chips (and have some beans) and it'd be awesome.

K went to the store and they didn't have the pre-made pico de gallo because of the tomato scare - so being the sweetheart she is - bought all the stuff to make it.

She comes home and I'm battling McAfee still....oh joy....and starts putting it together. I got up to help her in between chatting online with the help desk...and noticed that the cliantro tasted a bit "flowery" - I thought it was a little odd - but also thought, hey, maybe it is just not a very fresh batch. We chopped everything up, tasted it, and it still tasted flowery. I wasn't going to eat it.

Fast forward a few hours, and as I'm talking to my mom on the phone she asks "Are you sure she didn't get parsley?" K said - No, the sign over it was cilantro. (Well, K had noticed the leaves felt a bit different......but just chalked it up to being different). Well, after much discussion and examining - it WAS parsley.

Imagine how good my pico de gallo will be now with *most* of the parsley picked out, with cilantro and jalapeno? :)

I love my wife!

Friday Fill-In

1. Be pregnant and have a kid is high up on my bucket list.
2. My favorite quote (right now) is Be who you are and say what you feel.
For those who mind don’t matter, And those who matter don’t mind.
--Dr. Seuss (1904-1991)
3. Ronnie inspired me to start blogging.
4. Strawberries are best picked right off the plant and then ate!
5. _____ in the last dream I remember having. (I can't remember!)
6. The most enjoyable time to go for a walk is in the sun!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to celebrating Malaney's 3rd Birthday with K's family, tomorrow my plans include Garage Sales Galore and Sunday, I want to work in the yard, mow the lawn, wash the car, and prepare for another busy week at work!!

Happy Birthday Friend!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GINGER!

On your birthday, I wish for you the fulfillment of all your fondest dreams.
I hope that for every candle on your cake you get a wonderful surprise.
I wish for you that whatever you want most in life, it comes to you, just the way you imagined it, or better.

I look forward to enjoying our friendship for many more of your birthdays.

Happy Birthday!

Wednesday - is it Friday?

I thought yesterday was Friday - no kidding - and we still have 2 full days to go. YIKES!! We have quite a few vacations at work right now....so are having to kind of pull from wherever we can to get the work done. It makes the days go by kind of fast, but the days can tend to be a bit longer (going in early, etc.) I am glad this weekend the sun is supposed to shine....... our veggies will appreciate it! (if they haven't rotted already!)

Short and sweet tonight...........
Randi

Coming To Terms With Myself Part 2

OK, for the things I'm coming to terms with myself (I've had a lot of comments......although really they are silly things.....and nothing huge.

1) I wanted to make a movie from the pictures of Life is Good and thought it would be a simple task I've done many times before.......but with all the resizing done to pics, etc....it just isn't working.....so I've come to terms with myself in the fact that I CAN make videos, but in this instance it isn't worth the frustration it was causing me! (and that is freeing!!)

2) I can't tell you - otherwise I'd have to hurt ya. LOL

Randi

Coming To Terms With Myself

So throughout the day today, there have been issues that have been coming up (not really anything VERY important, but things that mean a lot to me....) and well......now BOTH things have been squashed (either because of me not being educated enough in one area (I suppose it both areas)...... and another being that I just need to come to terms with something I just *can't* figure out - and that just be so (although it is irritating me to no end!)

With that being said - I'm going to bed!

Randi

McAfee

I believe I got McAfee on this computer when I bought it (over 5 years ago) - hated it then - still do. I got Norton at one point (for some reason thinking it was better) - hated it then - still hate it too.

I've been using a free anti-virus and spyware program on the computer. They were upgrading to 8.0 and I was having some issues running it and doing what I wanted to online - and so have decided I'd break the bullet and buy TrendMicro (a brand of anti-virus/spyware that I've heard is very good)...........

Well............now for the life of me (even with McAfee help so far) can't get the damn thing off of my computer................ So, now I get to hang out at my house for 2 days this week - hoping - someone calls from their company calls me (and can help me) (The help I got via online chat today was remarkable, BTW)

UGH.
Randi

Sunday's Post

I woke up at 8:30am! Rarely is it that I sleep through K climbing out of bed....but I slept 1 more hour than she did! It was so nice! We got up and moved around this morning - read our paper, drank coffee, then K went out and mowed the lawn and I emptied the dishwasher and vacuumed :) We had to make a run to Costco for some chicken breasts and to order a cake and such.....then off to feed some kitties of whom we were watching :) we grabbed a bite to eat on the way home........and now are home and relaxing - in preparation for the busy work week ahead.

One person is gone all week from work (on vacation). Many of us have appointments this week - and a few others have days off. June is a busy month for vacations!

I was asked what we planted in our garden (well, K's done most of the work) here is what we planted:

ONION, RHUBARB, CORN, CUCUMBERS, BEANS (Blue Lake), TOMATO (one plant), RASPBERRIES, CARROTS oh and 1 artichoke plant.

We're doing a community garden with our neighbors so will be sharing our food between each other (which is fun!)

That's it for now!!
Randi

Saturday Night Excitement!

We joined the group of Mille Cugini (Sons of Italy) and their annual Sketti feed! K & I helped serve pasta from 2-7pm - and from what we heard - it was a record turn out! (We were too busy serving close to 400 people pasta.......) that we didn't have time to take any pictures! (Check out Aunt Mary and Uncle Tom's blog) for pics in the coming days!

AND hats off to Denise for all your dedicated and hardwork (Despite a few mishaps)! We really had a great time!!

R & K

Friday Night / Saturday AM Fun

BEACH FUN @ 4 Years Old

We watch Braxton in exchange for hair cuts and have really had fun watching him grow into a kid! He saw me first when I went to pick him up at daycare....and he zoomed down the slide and yelled "RANDI!" :) He immediatly wanted to go dig in the dirt (behind our house) and ride bikes! FUN!!

We've always been known to Braxton as "randikauleen" yep - one word. It was quite entertaining (6:30am) on Saturday morning.....when he wanted to know where "randi" was - I said "I'm Randi, Kauleen is coming" and he couldn't get it....we had the whole discussion as to who I was - and who she was - and decided in the end it was just easier us being one :) so randikauleen it is!! :)

Ephiany

Today I realized that I internalize a lot of things - and sometimes just being able to say "I'm scared" "I'm hurt" or anything of that sorts - makes one feel better. It's a process in the making.....but I beginning to learn.

Imagine that? :)

Randi

Friday Fill-In

1. Idle hands are for knitting and/or coloring.
2. I love hot water in the shower.
3. My favorite time of the day is when wake up when I want to - not when I have to!
4. The last tea I drank was Lipton Green Tea mmmmmmm.
5. I like to hike in the Summer.
6. My mother always said love you scoobie :)
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to hanging with Braxton (we went to the beach and enjoyed the little sun we got today!), tomorrow my plans include making marvelous pasta for the Sons of Italy Sketti Feed (and enjoying it with family and a few friends I invited and Sunday, I want to relax and work on Dads webpage!

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things That Make Me Happy (right now)(and in the BLUE because for some reason WASHINGTON can't get WARM and/or HAVE SUN!) 1. Kauleen and all she does for me! 2. Christmas Lights (my favorite being: http://www.holdman.com/christmas/video.asp) His 2006 Jingle Bells at the bottom ROCKS! 3. Incentive (and looks like we'll get it for this month!) 4. The memories of Life is Good (and the friends I made) 5. Comments on my blog (and realizing people DO read it!) 6. Cats flying around the house after drinking out of the tub faucet 7. Hot water in Grand Coulee 8. Babies (in slings) 9. Special needs people and the memories of Camp Horizon 10. My eyeglasses and a correct prescription - with my rare eye case 11. Plain White Tee's "Hey There Delilah" (am loving it!) 12. My new red cell phone 13. Our garden and all of the fresh yummy goods in it (and starting to grow!)

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2nd Thursday Post

I'm not feeling too hot......I don't know if I'm trying to fight a cold, some stomach bug or something, but just feel out of sorts and off kilter. My one ear is beginning to get plugged, my throat feels a little tight....... we ate soup (chicken noodle) and a roll for dinner....it was perfect. I am not waiting for Kauleen to come in from the trunk of the car......yep, she's been laying in it for approx. 30 minutes trying to get it put back together after the brake light had gone out....she just came back in.

I'm back now from putting a giant chocolate chip cookie in the oven for my co-workers. The boss is buying coffee's for everyone and I thought a special sweet treat would be fun also :)

We're kid watching tomorrow night for Braxton! We'll pick him up at daycare and then have him over night until Saturday morning! We are always quite entertained......and this is his first time over since we got our Wii....it'll be interesting to see if he enjoys playing (at 4!).

That's it for now.......
Randi

Quote For The Day

Be who you are and say what you feel.
For those who mind don’t matter,
And those who matter don’t mind.

--Dr. Seuss (1904-1991)

Sundays Scatterings

We just got home from making a trip to the local casino for a fill-up on our gas tank! (it is about 10 minutes from our house but saves us a good .20 a gallon). We used 13.7 some gallons for $55.00 (and we're full!) at $3.99 a gallon - eekk.

We woke up this morning to a lovely cat - pawing, kneading, and meowing for attention - onto K - back onto Randi - onto K - back on to Randi :) Sure makes one feel loved :) (even IF it is annoying!) Rosa has been the one who we really can notice needs the attention - she just starves for it. So, we've done lots of "baby carrying" and petting and more carrying...... :) as of right now she's following K around the house trying to trip her. LOL

This morning was a tough morning, again.....ugh. I'm not really excited to back to work, but am excited to do something that will keep me busy! :) I guess I enjoyed myself too much at the LIG conference and the like-mindeness people.

I got an email from a friend today - that told me there was a knitting "get together" at a local Starbucks Mondays at 6pm - YAHOO! I'm going to try to go tomorrow. We went to the library today to try to check out a few books, but they didn't have them - so I'll just have to buy them - BUT I did get to check out a knitting book..... so I ended my 2nd project of nothing (purely for practice) and am now starting a project.......I'm excited for tomorrow nights adventures because I'm needing a little bit of clarity on the safety pin, etc. (and tend to add stitches) and need to keep this scarf looking.....umm square. Thank you Robin B. for the pretty purple yarn that I'm using :)

I was thinking it would be fun to have a NW Unschoolers Yahoo Group (for those North in Canada.....and for those South towards Vancouver) and all in between points - that may be able to travel for a weekend get together somewhere? It'd sure be fun to do a camp-out!! :)

Speaking of camp out..... there's been discussion of trying to do a Riehl Camp Out (family get together) .... so if we're going to do it I guess I'd better look into some group camps, etc.

This week we don't have much planned, really. Work, work, and work :) We have to go see K's Grandma one evening.....and this weekend we are starting to cat sit for a few days......and then we're going to Marysville to help out with the Sons of Italy 'Sketti Feed :) That'll be fun hanging out with family we usually only see a few times a year........ :)

I've enjoyed seeing on Mothering.com on their forums a few of the people from LIG and although we never met - almost feel connected, weird huh? :)

I think that's it for now......over and out.

Randi