O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, Oh Sweet Baby Jesus

Our Christmas tree shines throughout the evening and we’ve had fires almost every night.


We had a quiet Christmas - visiting my brother and eating Chinese food.


And later at home opening our gifts to each other. See that cute little box with the yellow bow on it? And that huge bundle of bubble wrap? Mike outdid himself once again. Yup. That’s the Baby Jesus. Nice touch, Mike!

North Creek Florist and the Gingerbread House

Yesterday we were surprised by a delivery from North Creek Florist...a thank you from the owners for the gorgeous orders we received from them earlier in the month. Don't you love my little gingergread house? How colorful with Chistmas ornatments tucked into the greenery and fragrant with sticks of cinnamon. Thank you North Creek Florist!

We hope everyone enjoys a wonderful holiday with family and friends. Merry Christmas.

Maya in Japan

Not too long ago I added Maya’s blog to my blogroll to the right. And today I want to encourage you to take a look at her blog.

She and her husband (originally from Oregon) raised their four daughters and were now living in rural Uruguay after exploring parts of Latin America. But recently they accepted English teaching positions and just moved back to Japan.

Maya’s last two posts are all about the transition and are very interesting. Check it out.

The Weekend

Friday after work I headed to south and east to Snoqualmie. For a party. An annual tradition. A gathering of women who used to work in the Legal Department at AT&T Wireless – a company that was acquired by Cingular Wireless, whose parent company acquired AT&T, and now goes by the name AT&T Mobility. Confused? The telecommunications mergers & acquisitions era was busy...many, many changes.

And from the change mentioned above developed a small group of powerful women that get together now and then. Due to the merge of AT&T Wireless with Cingular most of the women at the party were either laid off (like me) or made the wise decision to find a new job before getting their proverbial pink slip. I missed the last two Annual AT&T Wireless Reunion and Holiday Gift Exchange parties because I wasn’t living in Seattle, but I wasn’t about to miss this one.

I walked in and it felt so comfortable to see all of the familiar faces. I learned we are working at power companies like Microsoft, Amazon.com, Nintendo, Premera Blue Cross, and Motricity. We all brought either an appetizer or dessert and a gift to exchange. We ate and chatted and caught up with each other. It was a delight to see everyone and I really enjoyed the evening.


“I am woman, hear me roar!”

Our Saturday morning began with a drive north to Lake Stevens. More specifically, to a middle school in Lake Stevens that was holding a holiday bazaar. A holiday bazaar that included my friend and blog commenter, Teresa from Lake Stevens.



We spied Teresa from a walkway above her tables. We knew she’d be easy to spot because we’d heard about all the plants she had been nurturing over the past few months – and there she was! She had her tables nicely organized and she was ready to sell and make some money for her fundraiser. We bought a plant that was cleverly dropped into a holiday gift bag - it was already “wrapped”!

From there we went out to lunch to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Twelve years! Maybe next year we’ll celebrate BIG…like with a trip to the tropics...

Sunday morning Mike was off to his volunteer gig at the Center for Wooden Boats (CWB). He and another guy are in charge of the sailing of the model sailboats on the pond that is next to CWB. Check it out some Sunday morning, 10:30-1:30.

So while Mike was downtown Cheryl and I met for our belated birthday lunch. And Cheryl gave me a Box of Fun. I'll have to tell you about that in my next post...

The weekend was busy and fun. Here's to more busy and fun weekends!

Flowers, Flowers, Everywhere

What a week! It was my first full week of working in over six months and I loved it. My brain is stuffed with new information and it needs this weekend to rest. But what a week...Dec 1st was my birthday and today is Mike’s and my 12th year wedding anniversary.

So back to the post title – I like having fresh flowers around me. They make me feel peppy and I love a good smelling flower. Right now our apt is full of flowers and I took some pics.


Two weekends ago Cheryl and Pat came over for the Birthday Feast and I put together this bouquet of dianthus. They look good bunched up and as you can see they last a long time.


And I know a poinsettia is not technically a flower, but they look so pretty that I call ‘em flowers.


Imagine my surprise when I went to work Wednesday morning and saw cookies and flowers on my desk at work - from my new boss. And there was a birthday card signed by my new team. Nice nod to the “new girl”.


And Mike surprised me with this beautiful bouquet. He talked to a florist we hadn't gotten flowers from before. They're called North Creek Florist, on the Bothell-Everett Highway and we are very impressed with the customer service and the lovely floral arrangement. Nice job, North Creek Florist!


So we have the little dianthus bouquet, the poinsettia, the roses from work, the birthday bouquet from Mike and when I got home Friday night, what did I see? These red holiday roses that Mike got for our anniversary. They are luscious! Thank you again, North Creek Florist.

Happy Anniversary, Mike!