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!

Kenmore Wildlife Watch – Great Blue Herons

Behind the Kenmore Park and Ride lot is the Great Blue Heron Sanctuary. I noticed it when we first moved here while on a walk exploring Kenmore.

Well, what I really noticed was the double-sided sign at the Park and Ride that describes the Sanctuary. I walked to the back of the Park and Ride and saw the fencing, but other than that I couldn’t really tell that there was a sanctuary. Ever since that day I have looked toward the Sanctuary, but never saw any clues that the Great Blue Herons called the area home.

Last year in Salem I wrote about nests I spied in winter when the leaves had all disappeared from the trees. This year I was recently surprised when walking through the Park and Ride. I looked up and saw the naked trees. And within the naked trees are the nests. Lot of them.


It was like Great Blue Heron condo city!


This is the tree on the far right in the pic above.

There is a webcam for the Sanctuary – although it is currently offline for the season – and I am going to remember to check it out in the spring. Maybe I can see some baby Great Blue Herons waking up in Kenmore!

Thanksgiving 2010 in Kenmore, Washington

We had more snow today and Mike got busy and built a stylin’ snowman! We also took time to take stock of how grateful we are for the important things in our lives – our health, family and friends. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

BRRRRR!!!

It was snowling lightly on Sunday morning as I began to prepare the Birthday Feast for Cheryl and Pat.


On Monday morning there was a light blanket of snow in Kenmore - the truck was barely covered. I got up and drove to work at the regular time.

It was snowing while I was driving and the traffic was slow, but I made it to Redmond without any problems. I have a window at my desk and as the hours ticked by, I could see the snow piling up. By noon I decided to skip lunch, wrap up what I was working on, and head home. That was the best decision I could have made!

I got home fairly easily…it was smooth going until just a couple of miles south of Bothell and then traffic got real slow. Nevertheless, I was home before I knew it and I was very happy about that. Mike and I watched the special TV news that interrupted regular programming (hey, this was a big deal!) and began to learn just how bad it was going to get. The temperature was below freezing so all the snow that fell turned to ice. And here in Seattle we don’t know how to drive on ice. Many, many people abandoned their cars on freeways, highways and side streets and began walking. Metro buses were sliding sideways or over railings. The multitude of hills compounded the matter. There were wrecks everywhere.


It got real cold and the snow continued to fall. Mike wrote on our Weber BBQ table, “C&M I LOVE YOU” – isn’t he cute?


We got a fire going and Mike took some kindling and wood to four of our neighbors so they could have a cozy fire too.


Tuesday morning I got up and realized that I would not be able to drive to work. By now we had about 3 or 4 inches of snow and the truck was covered. We live on a hill and have to be able to stop at the bottom or risk sliding into traffic on Bothell Way. No thanks...not even gonna try. I thought about taking a bus to work, but that didn’t seem like a viable option either so I decided to stay home.


Although it was cold, it was clear and sunny and around 10:30 Mike and I decided to walk to Safeway and pick up a few things we needed. Right off the bat Mike slipped and fell coming down our hill. His wrist is terribly swollen and he may have broken a finger or two. We went home and he changed into his Harley boots and we still walked to Safeway...the cold weather was easier than actually putting ice on his wrist!


I wasn’t surprised at the lack of traffic. Normally this road is very busy at this time in the morning. And if you think that is water on the road, think again. That is pure ice!


And here’s something we rarely see in Seattle – a truck with a snow plow attached to the front. I wonder if this guy is making some side money today...We got home and Mike found that a neighbor’s water heater exploded so he helped to install a new one. He finally finished, we had dinner and then settled in in front of the blazing fire.

I’m up this morning and it is around 17F. It is pure ice outside and I won’t attempt the hill. I’ll see if it warms up any and maybe go into the office for a few hours.


But for now I’m going to bring in more wood for the fireplace. Stay warm, Seattle!

Things That Happened in 1955

In no particular order...

Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white person on a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama.
President Eisenhower sent the first US advisors to South Vietnam.
The average wages were $4,130 per year, and the minimum wage was raised to $1.00 per hour.
The average cost of a new house was $10,950 and the average cost of a new car was $1,900; a gallon of gas was 23 cents!
Albert Einstein, developer of the relativity theory, died.
Congress ordered all US currency to say, “In God We Trust.”
The first cans of Coca-Cola are sold - up till then it had only been sold in bottles.
The Brooklyn Dodgers won the World Series.
Ray Kroc started the fast food chain, McDonalds.
The theme park, Disneyland, first opened its gates.
Elvis Presley made his first TV appearance.
James Dean’s stars in the movie East of Eden; James Dean killed in car accident near Cholame, California.

And...it was the year of many great births:

Bill Gates
Steve Jobs
Whoopi Goldberg
Kevin Costner
Bruce Willis
Cheryl Stadler Ryan and Cynthia Johnson – yep, that’s us, same day, same year!

And if you do the math you’ll see that since Cheryl and I were born in ’55 this year we will be 55 years old on December 1st. Same with Disneyland (turning 55) and that’s where Cheryl will be partying on her birthday. So this year we had an early celebration with dinner at our place.



Here’s to us! Happy Birthday, Cheryl!

Back to the Grind

Answers.com says, “It means back to what you usually do, i.e. work, school, etc. It comes from the term ‘grind stone’, but has since built up its own meaning.”

That sounds about right...I usually work. I just had one long vacation. But I had a blast the past three days. Like I said, I like a schedule. And I stuck to my goal of getting in a power walk all three mornings before heading to work.

The abundance of new information I have had to process has been challenging. It’s like a mental marathon and I’m doing pretty well. I’m also using Microsoft Office 2007, instead of Office 2003 that I have on my laptop, and that has been a little tricky adjusting to the nuances of 2007. But, hey - I’m smart. I can do it!

The thing I didn’t like was the commute. Ugh. I drove the truck all three days. And Kenmore to Redmond is a tough drive up I-405. But coming home is worse. Every day I took a slightly different route home – none of which were much better than the others - although taking a route entirely off the freeway was less stressful. It’s hard to keep the clutch going in and out! My left leg is getting quite a workout.

I have figured out a way to get to work using the bus system and I will try that next week. I’m not sure that it’s faster, but it has to be less nerve-racking. And easier on the environment and clutch…we’ll see.

For today and tomorrow I’m going to enjoy the weekend! We may have snow in the Seattle area and that always makes for excitement because we don’t “do snow” very well in Seattle. Stay warm and stay tuned!