Pleased to Meet You, Won’t You Guess My Name?

We’ve been snapping and snapping, taking pictures of these three little bundles of energy, but we’re having a hard time getting them to stand still! Nevertheless, we have come up with a few cute pics.

Ladies and gentlemen – we’d like to introduce you to Rock, Squeak and their “cousin” Bella (yep, she turned out to be a female Lhasa Apso).


Here’s our diggity-dog, Rock…“Let's go outside and play!"


“Ahhh…it’s so nice and warm in front of the fireplace. Can you turn the stereo up a bit?”


“I’m a happy dog!”


Here’s our kitty-cat, Squeak. They told us he was named Squeak because he didn’t have a meow. But he does! I’ll have to record that. And see that light-colored patch on his side? Apparently he had a tangle with a pit bull years ago.


“I’ve never been outside, but that sun looks so inviting…” They told us Squeak would bolt if he ever went outside. He went out with Rock on his 3rd day here. And he has been out every day since. (Yes, we have nametags on both of them with our phone number.)


And here is that straight-standing stick of a tail Squeak sports.


“Arf, arf, meow, meow – we’re hungry!” Dinnertime!

While we are smitten with these two new adopted critters and they are very loving and well-behaved, I cannot say the same for the sister’s Lhasa Apso (see previous 3 posts) that Mike has been doggie-sitting this week. It’s something about a small, fluffy dog…that’s just not my idea of a dog. I like a big, strong, playful dog – like Sitka and Rock!


Here’s that little Bella now…ewwwwwww…


And here are the three amigos. Hehehe…notice who’s outside?

Changes in the 'Hood, Part III

Yep, I clearly remember Mike last week telling me over the phone, “Our world is about to get rocked...” But Mike’s a joker - I never know when he is kidding with me. But this time was different and so the story continues. Read all the way to the end...

When I came home from work on Tuesday, Rock had officially moved into our home and was now our new diggity-dog. He is a mixed-breed dog, but looks like he’s mainly Australian shepherd. He has one of those little bobbed tails, small & floppy ears and a solid body. He is a chocolate color with a small white chest patch. His temperament is excellent, even in this sad time. Those first few days he’d sit on our patio and gaze east to the building he used to live in. I imagine he’s wondering where his “real dad” went and why he is over at the neighbors’ place.

The fact that a suicide was committed in our neighborhood has really opened up some dialog with Mike, our friends and some blog readers. I don’t know how people get to that point. Quality of life? Tired of hanging on? Nothing to look forward to? Broke and desperate? Mental health issues? Sick and tired of being sick and tired? A visit to Señor Zapata’s blog last week found the same topic and many reader comments.

So Wednesday morning I got up and said, “Good morning, Rock!” He was such a good doggie his first night with us. And then I went to work. That afternoon, as I was leaving work to head home, I called Mike. He told me that our neighbor’s sister had been back to see Mike and she had another request. Mike tried to tell me we’d discuss it when I got home, but he hinted around in a way that I had to keep asking him questions.

And then I finally got it out of him. The sister has a little doggie, a Lhasa Apso. This little doggie and Rock have been hanging out together for seven years. You see, the sister dropped her doggie off at her brother’s every morning on her way to work. That way, the two doggies could play together while she was at work. So what was her request???

She wants Mike to take care of her Lhasa Apso Monday-Friday, just like her brother had been doing. When I got this information out of Mike, I could tell he could have gone either way. But the more he talked about it and described how the two doggies loved each other, the more I could hear in his voice that he wanted to tell the sister he’d do it. So he did and beginning today Mike will have two doggies to watch. Maybe a doggie day care business is in Mike’s future...

And, believe it or not, there is one more element to this story. Once Mike got over telling me about the Lhasa Apso, he told me about the cat.

In addition to Rock, and unbeknownst to us, our neighbor also had a cat. His sister explained to Mike that the cat was still in the neighbor’s apartment, but that he needed a home. She went on to tell Mike how the two doggies and the cat were all pals and that they loved each other very much and that the three of them have been hanging out for seven years together and she would hate to break them apart.

I was still on a phone call with Mike when he began to tell me about the cat. And I knew he was giving it all he could to convince me that the cat needed to stay with the two doggies…I finally said, “OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! Tell the sister we’ll take the cat already!!”

So when I came home from work on Thursday the cat (named Squeak cause he doesn’t have a meow) had officially moved into our home and was now our new kitty-cat. He’s a big boy with orange and white stripes and a very long, straight tail. He walks around with his tail standing straight up and then tumbles down onto the carpet for a few rolls. Mike said he hid under the bed most of Thursday, but by evening he was cruising around.

So that’s the end of the story about the Changes in the 'Hood. Well, the “adoption” part anyway. I’m sure there will be many opportunities to write about our three new four-footed friends. Plus, I haven’t even met the Lhasa Apso yet or know his name!

Now where is my camera?...

Changes in the ‘Hood, Part II

“Our world is about to get rocked…” That’s what Mike said to me on Monday after he told me about our neighbor committing suicide. (See the previous post.)

First of all, Mike was able to tell me the neighbor’s name. And I felt better about at least knowing the guy’s name (I’ll keep that confidential in respect to the neighbor’s family). Secondly, Mike was also able to tell me the dog’s name. And I felt better about knowing the dog’s name, which is Rock. Not Rocky, not Roche (French for rock), but just plain Rock. Lastly, Mike told me exactly what was in the suicide note.

Mike knew exactly what was in the note because he met the neighbor’s family members on Monday. The neighbor’s sister read part of it to Mike: “Would you ask my neighbor in the building directly across from me – his name is Mike – if he would take care of Rock?”

HOLY COW! When we said good-bye to Sitka last July I never thought we would have another dog. But how in the world could Mike deny our neighbor’s request? Well, of course he couldn't and I couldn’t either. So guess who moved in with us?

Changes in the ‘Hood, Part I

For close to a year we have lived in Kenmore. We live on a dead-end street with a large apartment building on the other side of the fence in our back yard. All last summer Mike and I talked to a neighbor on the other side of the fence when he was walking his dog. He’d always stop at our fence so his dog could sniff at Sitka.

Because of the height of the fence I could never see the neighbor’s face – or the dog’s for that matter. It was like that TV show with Tim Allen talking to his neighbor over the fence, but you never got to see the neighbor’s face. Yeah, just like that.

Over time, Mike had more conversations with this neighbor and his dog. And recently the man asked if Mike could take care of his dog for a week while he went out of town. Mike agreed and last weekend we were ready to have a dog in the house again.

But something went terribly awry. We were expecting the neighbor on Saturday and we waited and waited. By Sunday afternoon we still had not seen the neighbor. We presumed that he must have had a change in plans. We were not prepared to learn what actually happened.

For reasons unknown to us, the neighbor unexpectedly committed suicide in the early hours of Monday morning. We saw the fire trucks and first responders, but had no idea what was going on in the apartment building on the other side of the fence in our back yard during the middle of the night.

It was late morning when Mike called me at work to tell me what had happened. I was truly shocked. But even more overwhelming than the shock was the guilt.

Guilt because this neighbor on the other side of the fence had a name, but I hadn’t bothered to ask what it was. Guilt because this neighbor on the other side of the fence asked a favor and I didn’t go over and knock on his door when he didn’t show up on Saturday – or Sunday. Guilt because this neighbor on the other side of the fence must have been in such a bad space that he took his own life, yet I wasn’t even aware that he was troubled.

After Mike told me about the suicide, he told me about the note. The note that mentioned Mike. Yes, my Mike. And as Mike explained it to me over the phone, “Our world is about to get rocked…”

Seeds, Seeds, Seeds!

Saturday’s pancake breakfast fundraiser for the Alderwood Manor Heritage Association was a great success – and the food was good too!


Here are Cheryl and Kevin – doesn’t Cheryl look like a restaurant manager??



We saw a few friends and relatives also enjoying their pancake breakfast…here is Cheryl and Kevin’s mom, Marlene, and their dad, Karl. Thanks to everyone who supported the fundraiser. I understand there is a chicken dinner in the fall - I’ll have to get more info about that event…

After our breakfast Mike and I did some shopping. We’ve been thinking about our garden and what to plant this year. We’re going to get a jump-start on it and get our soil in shape before planting. I have so many ideas in my head about the garden even though I know Mike will be the master gardener this year since I’ll be at work.


These are the seeds I bought yesterday - except the Oregon wildflowers that were a gift from Cheryl. Now I have to think of where to plant them all.

One thing we are going to do is to supplement the soil with Starbucks coffee grounds. The Starbucks closest to us saves the spent grounds for gardeners and we’re hoping we can get in on that. If anyone has any hints about how coffee grounds have helped in your garden, let us know!

Alderwood Heritage Hosts Pancake Breakfast Saturday March 12th

The Alderwood Manor Heritage Association invites you to their first ever Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser, Saturday March 12, 2011 from 8 - 10 am. THAT'S TOMORROW!

The breakfast is to be held at Applebee's Restaurant on 4626 196th SW in Lynnwood, Washington.

Breakfast includes pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, milk, juice and coffee. Servers will be volunteers from the Association and all tips they receive will do donated as well. To purchase tickets contact Kevin Stadler stadlerkk@gmail.com or 206.660.7080. (It's only $10!)

Yep, that' my friend Kevin that you have read about right here...both Kevin and his sister Cheryl (see last post) are very involved with the Alderwood Manor Heritage Association. Mike and I will be going to the fundraiser and having a great breakfast. And hey, maybe Kevin will be our server!

Help support the Association and go have breakfast at Applebees in Lynnwood!

Cabbage Patch Restaurant, Snohomish, Washington

Saturday was “girls’ lunch out” – if you’re a regular reader you know that means a meet-up with my three childhood girlfriends. One of my girlfriends, Beth, lives a quite a bit north of the rest of us so we made a plan to meet in Snohomish for lunch so that Beth wouldn’t have to drive so far.

Well, as it turns out Beth couldn’t make it and the reason is wacky. Her birthday is Valentine’s Day and for years her family owned a floral shop. If you know anything about flowers and Valentine’s Day you know that the entire week leading up to Valentine’s Day is a frenzy of activity in any decent floral shop. And for years Beth was working Valentine’s Day week and on her birthday!

Beth’s dad is now working for another florist, delivering flowers. And this year he somehow roped other family members (including Beth) into delivering flowers this past weekend to help with the Valentine's Day crunch. And that’s why Beth couldn’t join us for lunch on Saturday. Nevertheless, we decided to celebrate her birthday without her!


So off to the Cabbage Patch Restaurant for lunch we went.

We arrived at the restaurant before noon and were seated in the front room (the restaurant is an old house converted into a restaurant). Our server, Mary, brought waters, scones and coffee for me. Soon enough we ordered. After Mary took our order I asked if she could please take our picture when our meals arrived. I told her that we were celebrating a birthday (Beth’s, of course!) and I wanted a special picture for the occasion.

I was never more surprised when she replied, “Yes, I can take your picture IF I’m not too busy…” and off she went. The three of us were aghast! Having worked many years in management in the hospitality industry I could not, and still cannot, believe that a server would make that sort of remark. We were the only customers in the front room – it’s not as if the restaurant was packed. I have no idea what other tables were in her section, but that really was not my concern.

It was, however, my concern that my coffee cup was completely empty before Mary brought more coffee. Again, I was shocked. And I probably would not even mention the coffee if it was not for the snide remark Mary made about taking the picture.

Our food was delivered by another young woman, not Mary. I had my camera on the table and she gladly agreed to take our picture. I said thank you very much and was appreciative. To Mary's defense, I must say that she did come by and offered to take our picture, but I advised her that it had already been taken.


And here is the coveted picture! Our food (crab & shrimp louie salad, crab and shrimp sandwich, and crab and shrimp omlette - we were feeling seafoodish...) was hot and good...doesn't it look yummy? So sorry you missed your lunch, Beth!

Call me crazy, but Mary provided very poor customer service. I sent an email to the restaurant owner and am waiting for her response.

On a brighter note, after lunch we walked over to see our friend Shelly (another girlfriend from junior high) that I mentioned in my last post. She works at Joyworks - the "girly stuff" store that is very cool. Check out her blog to see all the girly, crafty things Shelly creates!


Here's Julie and Cheryl at the entrance.

The four of us yakked and yakked and shared stories since the last high school reunion. Next time Shelly needs to join us for our girly outing.


Here's Shelly and Cheryl.

After that we went to Cheryl’s house and she dug out her high school yearbooks. What a hoot! We were so goofy back then (haha…not like now when we are so mature…haha). We read some of the “comments” Cheryl’s friends had written in her yearbooks and we were very surprised when reading something Julie wrote. You see, first we found my comment to Cheryl in one of the books…and we laughed and laughed…I even used some gibberish words (almost like Spanish) which I think I made up.

But the FUNNIEST part was that in the same yearbook we found Julie’s comment to Cheryl and it was EXACTLY THE SAME COMMENT I made! Even with the Spanish gibberish…HAHAHAHAHA…none of us remembered having done that or why we did that. Geez, I guess our memories are fading…but it was very funny.

All in all, it was a wonderful afternoon. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BETH! And Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone!!

Lunch in Snohomish

Teresa from Lake Stevens and I decided to meet halfway, in Snohomish, for lunch on Saturday and what a lovely afternoon we had! We left the guys at home (hehe) and had a "girls only" outing.


We met at noon at El Paraiso, a good sized Mexican restaurant with delicious food. In fact, here's Teresa now.

We both decided on fish tacos and our waiter had a little fun with us. I asked what kind of fish was used in the fish tacos and he looked me straight in the eye and replied with a heavy accent, "guppy". It took me just a second to realize what he had said…hahaha, Victor! And then he clarified and said the fish was tilapia. While we waited for our lunch Teresa and I caught up with each other.

The topic of the day was unemployment. Teresa's youngest son is back home and still looking for a job. I explained how my Nintendo job is just temporary so I'm actually in the same boat as her son. I mentioned that ProLango Consulting was having another mixer on the 7th and she thought that was something from which her son might benefit. I'll have to check in to get his feedback about the event.


Our food came and it was hot, fresh and yummy! I found that I really like "guppy". Here we are with our funny waiter, Victor.


And we splurged and shared churros for dessert. Yum!

After lunch we strolled through downtown Snohomish, popping into one antique store after another. We were just window shopping…it's always fun to look and dream.

The last shop we stopped in wasn't an antique store, but one of those girly stores with all kinds of girly stuff like dinnerware, linens, clothes, household stuff. Teresa got a ceramic frog for her frog-collecting son.

And I got a surprise when I heard one of the store clerks and realized it was Shelly Dankenbring from high school! Well, actually Shelly reminded me that we met in junior high, yep, Alderwood Junior High. Oh, we yakked and yakked and had so much to talk about. Next Saturday I am tentatively meeting my girlfriends from high school in Snohomish (what a coincidence!) for lunch and I hope to bring them to Shelly's shop so we can all say hello. Hey, maybe she can even join us for lunch!

After that surprise Teresa headed home to Lake Stevens and me to Kenmore. But I just had to stop at the airport on the way to the freeway. It's something about small planes, I guess...


Here I am at Harvey Airfield. Hmmm…they also offer helicopter rides, hot air balloon rides, skydiving...now I really need a permanent job so I can have health insurance and I can take to the air at Harvey Airfield!!



Aren't they just so cute?

Neighbors in the 'Hood

Mike and I have lived in Kenmore for almost nine months. And I love it. It is close to where I grew up and close to people I have known all my life. (Being "close" to anything in the Seattle area is good because traffic here is very challenging!)

We have attempted to befriend some of our neighbors, but sometimes it has backfired. Like when we had the upstairs family over for a BBQ last summer...they moved out shortly thereafter…it might have had something to do with my frank conversation with the wife about the kids making too much racket above our apartment. Whoops.

And a few weeks ago we asked neighbors from the building next door over to our place to watch a Seattle Seahawks playoff game with us. It was a 10:00 a.m. kickoff on a Sunday morning and we fixed a brunch-like spread. We were all set to go and at 9:45 I pressed the button on the coffeemaker to make a fresh pot. At 10:10 we started to get a little nervous. By 10:30 I started eating. By 11:00 we concluded that we had been stood up. HMPFF! So Mike and I ate (a lot) and watched the game together. And not only did the Seahawks lose, they lost bad. It wasn't until 3:00 that our neighbors came knocking on our door, thinking it was an afternoon game….

Currently the neighbors in our own building include a single gal with 2 doggies who live upstairs from us and a dad with his teen-age daughter and their little doggie who live in the other upstairs unit. (The fourth apartment is vacant right now.) We all got to know each other a lot better one night last week when the bathtub faucet blew off the wall in the tub of the single gal and water was shooting straight out of the wall at a very fast rate of speed….if only I had grabbed my camera! It was unbelievable!!!

Luckily the woman had a five-gallon bucket that she was using to empty the tub as soon as it was full. But the water was winning and the tub was overflowing. By the time Mike and I heard the commotion and went upstairs there was water everywhere! And then the dad and teen-age daughter joined the action…the next thing I knew was that Mike and the dad were out in the parking lot looking for the water main. They had the building owners on the phone and they finally found the water main and shut off all water to our building. The owner arrived shortly thereafter and was able to do a patch job so we could turn the water main back on.

But the apartment was a mess. We grabbed dry towels and brought them upstairs to help with the mop-up. The teen-age daughter worked diligently on getting the bathroom in shape and the dad gave out kudos for her initiative in helping out. Mike took wet towels and hung them over the deck railing. And I tried to calm the poor woman down. She was exhausted from dumping all that water.

Soon enough we said good-night and headed downstairs. To our nice, dry apartment – except the fan in the bathroom was "leaking" water from upstairs and some had also seeped into our kitchen. It was quick work to clean up.

And out of adversity often comes surprise. We were surprised when the woman washed our towels, folded them nicely and returned them to us quickly. Mike had offered to wash all the towels, but she wouldn’t agree to that. And the dad brought us some home-made fried chicken this week (he's a chef). Nice, huh? All we needed was a little water emergency and we have new friends in the 'hood.

Alternative Transportation

For those of you who've been reading for a while you know all about Mike's brain cyst and the brain surgeries he went through in Mexico City. Since that time Mike has not driven and we have been a one-car (well, actually a truck) family. And somehow we have managed. But it gets tricky sometimes.

For example, when we lived in Guaymas I taught English at the Preschool and there was a big parking area for the teachers. So I drove to work. And I drove fast. In fact, it was a daily ritual…how fast could I make it to work? (Remember that speed limits are a suggestion in Mexico, not a rule…) I had it down to eight wild minutes, door-to-door. And fun at that! Shopping, appointments and going to the beach could all be arranged in the afternoon after school or on the weekends. The guy who changed the oil in our truck was about 3 blocks up the street we lived on so we walked home while waiting for the oil to get changed. In Guaymas it was never a problem with just one vehicle and just one of us driving.

Then we moved to Salem, Oregon. I worked in the Capitol Mall, and there was rarely parking available. So I usually rode my bike to work. In bad weather - I took the bus. When I knew I had a parking space – I drove. But mostly I rode my bike to work. While a lot of errands could be done on the weekend, we were lucky to have Betty as our upstairs neighbor and landlord – she took Mike to many appointments. Plus, the two of them would go swimming and sometimes shopping together. Salem was small enough to get around and we had a truck guy who came right to the house for a "house call." Again, it was never a problem with just one vehicle and just one of us driving.

And now we live in Kenmore, just north of Seattle, at the north end of Lake Washington. There is no speedy eight-minute racetrack to work. There is no guy on our block that can change our oil. There is no easy bus commute to my job. There is no neighbor for Mike to hitch a ride with (well, actually there is one guy that has taken him a couple of places…) There is no truck guy who will do "house calls" (well, there might be – but I don't know him). All of a sudden we have problems with just one vehicle and just one of us driving.

Saturday morning we had an appointment at Midas to get three belts replaced. It was going to be a long appointment because one of the belts was the timing belt (one of the most expen$ive belts to replace, of course!) and the Midas guy wanted us to drop the truck off at 8:00 AM and pick it up "sometime in the afternoon." So what to do? What to do? Well, we knew exactly what to do!

Friday evening Mike got my bike out of our garden shed, checked the tires for air, and schlepped it into the truck bed. Saturday morning I drove to Midas, gave them the keys and hopped on my bike. The Burke Gilman Trail was a block away and after a leisurely ride west on the Trail, I was home within 15 minutes. Around 2:00 we got a call advising that the truck was ready. By now it was drizzling, but no matter. I got back on my bike, rode the quick ride to Midas, paid, put my bike in the truck and was home by 3:00. Not bad, huh?

Where there is a will, there is a way!