520 Toll Bridge Haiku

The day has finally arrived.

Today tolling begins on the 520 bridge between Seattle and Bellevue. I believe that a lot of people will avoid the toll and re-route through Kenmore - that's not a good thing for me.

So before the tolling began I took my last couple of free trips over the bridge...just because I could...and both times on the way from Seattle to Bellevue I spied a grand bald eagle perched on a lamppost right at the beginning of the bridge. It was so close I could see its face. I think it was looking for fish in Lake Washington.

From these thoughts came these Haiku -

520 bridges the gap
520 toll begins -
Kenmore will suffer!

Eagle soars low in blue sky
Fish jumps in the lake
Huge hunger is avoided

Xmas Came Early in Kenmore!

Cooking With Teresa in Nagoya, Japan

My friend, Teresa, and her husband, Steve, packed up about four months ago and moved to Nagoya, Japan where Steve has a two-year assignment with his employer. Teresa regularly sends an email update on her latest Japanese adventures and I’d like to share a part of her email from December 6.

last week in preparation for our party, i decided to make some banana bread. well, low and behold it burned, and to make matters worse, about 10 minutes later, the oven broke. this was last thurs. and they finally fixed the oven this morning/by the way, i couldn't use the stove either.

i had to turn off the fuse because if it was on the oven made a noise that was deafening!!! so, today after the repairman left, i tried to make the pumpkin bread that i had tried making on sat. but couldn't because of the horrible sound, and guess what! it burned again!

i am discovering that this oven does not like anything baked with sugar on top-i do that for a nice crunchy crust. the house smelled so bad from the smoke that i had to open the windows and doors and go for a walk. i'm wondering if maybe i shouldn't have preheated the oven like the recipes call for. my flan, lasagne and porkchops have turned out fine so i don't know what happens with these breads.

i talked to 2 other women in the complex and turned the oven on to the setting they told me to use. if you'll recall from an earlier e-mail the darn oven has 6 different settings-no such thing as just turning the temp. on to 350. i just don't understand why these german appliances are so darn hard to use. i finally learned that in order to make the washer and dryer work, i have to slam the doors shut. no such thing as just pushing them gently. oh well, life goes on.

That really got me laughing! And Mike and I shared the same frustration with our oven in Guaymas. It had no temperature settings, in fact, no settings at all. We just turned the oven’s knob to the right and hoped for the best. Needless to say, we didn’t use our oven much. Ahhh…the joys of living in another country!

Thanks for sharing Teresa!

December Festivities

December is always a good month for us.

It starts on the first. That’s the day I share my birthday with Cheryl. This year Cheryl came and met me at Nintendo for lunch on December first. That evening Mike and I went out for dinner to the Purple Café in Woodinville. I love that place! I had a three-course meal with a three-course wine flight – a chance to pair wine with food and try wine I would never think to order. It was wonderful.

Saturday morning Cheryl, with husband Pat, and I, met Cheryl's parents for breakfast in Bothell. Her parents are like second parents to me (heck they let me live in their motorhome for a spell way back in 1976 after my year living in Florida). It is good to spend time with them.

December fourth is our wedding anniversary. Last Sunday Mike and I celebrated 13 years together. We began with an early dinner at Prelude (inside McCall Hall at the Seattle Center) which was followed by a night at the Nutcracker Ballet. Everything was so festive and all the little girls wore their finest velvet holiday dresses!

Plus, this Saturday a new December tradition begins for us. It will be the evening of the Nintendo Holiday Party. They have already begun decorating the first floor of our building. It will be a gala affair with music, friends, and food prepared by local celebrity chef, Mr. Tom Douglas. I can’t wait!

And then winding up the month will be time out of the office. You see, Nintendo Headquarters closes early the afternoon of December 23 and doesn’t open up again until January 3. Yippee!! A winter vacation right here in Seattle!

Our apartment is adorned with our holiday décor and we even have stockings hanging over the fireplace this year. Rock keeps trying to get into the candy dish and Squeak is curious about all of the candles. All we need is a tree – which we’ll get sometime this week.

Life is good. And December is especially good…

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!