And the Winner is…

Gloria! Followed by Brenda, Steve and Betty...

Willie Nelson sang it so well:

Blue skies smilin' at me
Nothin' but blue skies do I see

Yes, my contest was an easy one. The picture I took was of blue, blue, blue Seattle sky. Something we have not seen much since our arrival on May 15th. But the past couple of days were very nice – clear and warm. We even BBQ’d dinner on Wednesday and last night. Today has been a mixture of drizzle, clouds and gray. Thanks for playing!

My First Blog Contest

Ready...set...go...

Who can be the first person to tell me what this picture is???

Happy Father's Day, Mike!

Mike has 3 kids. His oldest son, Kelly, lives in Eastern Washington. Another son, William, recently moved to Las Vegas. And his baby is Robin, his daughter who lives in Denver with her 2 kids. Mike heard from 2 of them today...and he’ll probably hear from the 3rd before the day is over. Mike loves his kids so much and I know they love him too.


Kelly and Robin with Robin’s son, Evan.


Yours truly and William on Mike’s Harley Davidson FATBOY in Duvall.


Since the kids live far away it was up to Sitka and me to celebrate Father’s Day with Mike. So we gave him our corny Father's Day card and headed toward downtown Seattle. We stopped for breakfast at Cyndy’s Pancake House Restaurant where he enjoyed steak and eggs and flirted with the waitresses.

Unfortunately, we haven’t seen much sun in Seattle yet, and today was no different. Nevertheless, we wound up at Kenmore Air on Lake Union to visit the counterpart to the Kenmore Air seaport at the north end of Lake Washington. There were 2 seaplanes ready to take off and we watched and wished we were on them.






Regrettably, from our vantage point we were unable to capture the acutal take-off from the lake. There were a few boats that went by – certainly not as many as there would have been if the sun had been out.


Big paddle boat, the Queen of Seattle.


A lone kayaker on a cloudy day.


Kayaker catches up to big paddle boat. And see that background? That's Capitol Hill - I lived there for about 25 years...so close to all the action in downtown Seattle!


Dragon boat at the seaport.


We drove around a bit and Mike got some great shots of the Space Needle on a not-so-sunny Father’s Day.

Happy Father’s Day to all dads out there!

Bloggin' on blogspot.com

I began writing this blog in November 2007 when Mike and I made the decision to move to Mexico to teach English and eventually retire there. My reason for this blog was to provide an easy way to update family and friends on our lives in Mexico.

That plan has changed considerably since we actually made the move in May 2008. But the basis for continuing this blog remains the same – to provide updates.

That said I am continually surprised and interested in who reads this blog.

I have 2 widgets embedded in this blog. One is the FEEDJIT Live Traffic Map and the other is the Site Meter. Both are located in the mustard yellow column to the right. Both provide information to me about blog visitors. And for some reason I am simply fascinated by wondering about the visitors.

I don’t understand all of the information the widgets provide. But I can see some statistics that make me laugh. Like the sheer number of visitors who viewed the post titled Sonny and Cher...uh I mean Mike and Cynthia... and the Antonio Bandares & Eddie Vedder post. I guess if my goal is to increase readers, I should post more often about musicians and actors.

So when you’re visiting this blog tell me what you were looking for. I’d be interested in the feedback!

Our New Home in Kenmore

I know it's crazy. We have moved a lot in the past 2 years. But now we are home! And we are making our new home comfy with the help of Craigslist, estate sales, friends and $mall amount$ of money. Some of you have asked for pics so here goes...



Enter our sweet abode – and notice the tribute to my mom with the Holly Hollow sign. Mike had that sign made when we had our house in Duvall and since my mom loved our house so much we named our house Holly Hollow after she passed on. We have schlepped and hung the sign in Mexico, Salem and now Kenmore. And the pics are tulip shots I took last year in Woodburn, Oregon.



Turn right and you’ll see the bathroom. When Mike and I were apartment property managers (while working our corporate AT&T jobs) we had the luxury of using the property owners’ Maui condo. We love Hawaii (Tahiti is on my bucket list...) and I couldn’t resist this Tiki Hut soap dispenser for the bathroom. (Hehe...how do you like that, Princess?!)

And to go along with it, we just had to have the palapala shower curtain with the flower leis at the top.


On the left is our lovely lavender bedroom which has a wonderful western exposure for lots of light.



And on the right is our 2nd bedroom that we use as our office. This magnificent dark-stained pine roll-top desk was a find on Craigslist and well worth the 200-mile round-trip drive to Centralia.

The dresser was an Edmonds find and I just have to display our family photos on it. (As well as John Wayne and Bob Dylan on the wall above...)





Swing back through the hallway and our kitchen is on the right. I love the lay-out. It is small, but open, and it has a window and a pass-through to the dining area.


Our living room is cozy and was built around the loveseat that we brought with us from Salem. (Thanks Ron and Betty!)


It has a massive fireplace and we have already lit several fires. (It’s not quite summer yet here in Seattle!) The oak table that houses the TV and stereo is an old family piece that I reconditioned many years ago and have hauled from here to there. We had kept it in our trailer in Salem and I am so pleased to look at everyday in Kenmore. When I think about furniture, pictures or momentos I am surprised at the emotions that surface.


Finally, Sitka and me – relaxing in front of the fireplace.

Pictures of the yard and patio to follow!

Girls' Lunch Out on a Friday

It was over 2 years ago when I posted about “my girls” and it’s about time that I post about them again.

Yesterday was the first time we have all gotten together since Mike, Sitka and I moved to Mexico. Our hair is a little different – mostly just different lengths – but we’re still the same inside. We met for lunch and gabbed and gabbed about how our lives have evolved over the past 2 years. Surprising to me, the conversation was on a much more serious level.

We discussed health issues, employment (or lack thereof), death, family and pets among other things. We shared ideas and encouraged each other in areas that needed encouragement.


But don’t get me wrong. We also reminisced about our high school escapades. With some of us remembering more details than others. And best of all, we laughed and laughed and laughed. It was just what I needed. And wanted. A few hours with 3 people that know me so well. Thanks Beth, Julie and Cheryl – where are we going next month???

The Burke Gilman Trail

It began as a railroad line and has evolved into the Burke Gilman Trail a 17-mile paved public biking, running, walking and skating trail. And guess where it begins? KENMORE! We live right across the street from it and I have been power walking and “wogging” (my term for ½ walk and ½ jog) on it for the past 2 weeks.

This morning Mike and I woke to something strange – sunshine! So we tweaked our bikes and got out on the trail. I brought my camera and want to share the highlights.


This is the part of the trail that begins in Kenmore. At this point the trail becomes the Sammamish River Trail and continues for 10 miles to Marymoor Park in Redmond on Lake Sammamish.


As we headed west we passed Wayne Golf Course. As you can see, the bountiful spring rain has been good for the grass.


At this point the trail runs along the Sammamish River Slough. There are many extraordinary homes on the Slough, including this beauty.






Next is a small marina and I’m guessing that some of the homeowners keep their boats there while others keep their boats in their “front yards.”




The trail runs parallel to the Bothell Highway and soon enough we came upon my favorite – Kenmore Air! This is the very north end of Lake Washington.


Here is another marina with many boats hauled out.


There were a lot more people on the trail today than the early morning commuters that I usually see. In fact, Mike and I had to bike single file and be careful not to hit any runners.

It was a great ride and we hoped you enjoyed the tour. And now...back to my job search...

Testing by the Computer Gods Part II

I should have sent chocolate chip cookies to the Computer Gods – via Brenda – and maybe my yesterday would have been more fun.

But I didn’t. So I worked through the pain and today my laptop is close to “normal.” My Outlook .pst file saved email, tasks and calendar data up to sometime in 2008 and everything else is gone. (It brought back many memories to look at my calendar and see all of my real estate appointments and then all of my meetings/holidays for the preschool when I was teaching English in Guaymas – whewww…what a ride!)

So after reinstalling my operating system and reloading all of my docs, pics and email; installing Windows’ many updates; upgrading my Internet Explorer browser to version 8; and finally installing my printer, camera and Comcast software – I am back!

Mike, on the other hand, needs to bake some chocolate chip cookies. Soon.

Mike has a “new” program called Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware and we’re not sure what it is. The internet claims it is a good product for eradicating spyware, yet it seems like this may be the root cause of all of Mike’s recent issues. We talked to McAfee and Dell reps on extended calls yesterday trying to figure it out. During our final call with a Dell rep we agreed to pay $129 to have him uninstall the program. (We were unable to uninstall it ourselves which raises my eyebrows.) Unfortunately, during the time that the rep was connected to and viewing Mike’s laptop, the internet connection was disabled and we were not able to reconnect Mike to the internet. ARGHHH! This morning Mike is waiting for a call from McAfee.

All of this makes me happy and sad all at the same time. I am happy that we live in the technological age with so much available to us at our literal fingertips. Conversely, I am sad that I can get so easily confused and frustrated when my technology “breaks” and I don’t know how to fix it.

So it’s time for me to go on a power walk on the Burke Gilman Trail. Forget about the past few days and move on. Heck, I need to get a job. Now that’s something to worry about!

Calling Antarctica!

It's Saturday night and I'm looking at my blog's FEEDJIT Live Traffic Map (down and to the right) and I see that people in SIX of the 7 continents are checking the blog. All is need is someone from Antarctica so if you know someone there, please ask them to visit my blog, AND if you're on Antarctica and you can post a comment, please do!

Postscript - I just noticed that I said SATURDAY night when it was actually TUESDAY night...see how crazy this computer stuff is making me?!

Testing by the Computer Gods

Just when I thought I knew a lot about computers...the past week Mike and I have been thoroughly tested by the Computer Gods. And I mean tested!

I won’t go into all the gory details, but suffice to say that it began with my laptop. Out of the blue I began getting messages that my wireless application needed to be configured – yet I was intermittently able to get a wireless signal and I’ve had wireless for 4 years. Sometimes I saw the error message in our office, sometimes in the dining room. I took my laptop to a computer fix-it shop and was shown that my wireless connection rocker switch was switched off. (In retrospect I think I actually switched it off while trying to troubleshoot the problem and that was not the real problem. But I was so happy that I slipped the computer guy $20 and left the shop happy, with a signal, and was only down $20.)

The next episode involved Mike’s laptop which began cascading all windows MULTIPLE times and indicating a virus had slipped though his McAfee protection. Mike ran a McAfee scan, but wasn’t sure everything was resolved. So back we went to the same computer fix-it shop. His laptop spent the night while the same computer guy ran diagnostics and cleaned the laptop. It came home fresh and fast – albeit to the tune of $150 + change.

Just when I thought all was well, my keyboard just quit working. But I was able to plug in an external keyboard and work that way. I reloaded my drivers and wa-laa – my keyboard was working again.

For a day, that is.

The following morning both the mouse and keyboard were on the blink. I cried for a while. And stomped around and was mean to Mike. I don’t like broken computers. And then Mike called Dell. He was on the phone for maybe 6 hours straight and then an additional hour or 2 after that. It was a whole-day affair. Nice way to spend Memorial Day, huh? I’m not sure what all he did with his new tech friend, James. I hid out in the living room and tried to stay away from the office. Plus, it was freaky rainy out (yet again) so I read the Sunday paper one day late.

Last night when we went to bed it appeared that all was well. I didn’t even want to check. I just thought that after that much time my laptop must be fixed. Fast forward to this morning when I hit the on button. The mouse and keyboard worked and I had a wireless connection. But no email and no internet. WHAAAA!!

So guess who spent time on the phone with Dell’s rep, Steve, today? It was my turn. And it was painful. About 5 hours of pain. And there’s more to come. Tomorrow.

I backed up my files and email .pst file. Plus, I downloaded several drivers that I may need. And tomorrow I’ll try to find Steve so we can re-load the operating system. Hopefully that will correct the corrupt email and internet files.

Well, I guess my details got gory after all...so if anyone reading this post is friends with the Computer Gods, would you please put in a good word for us tonight? We need it!