Snow Day! Snow Day!

Well, I woke up to a blanket of white and my initial reaction was the same as when I was a kid-"Hooray! Maybe school will be canceled!!!" Naturally, the decision was held off just long enough for me to get ready, walk the dog, scrape off my car and be literally heading out the door. But, I'm not really complaining because I didn't have to drive anywhere. For a few moments, I then wallowed in sadness regarding how late our school year is going to be this year... (almost to July now, I believe) but then someone reminded me to "enjoy today and worry about this summer later." Good advice and I must say that one of the perks of being a teacher is the random "snow days" where you can stay at home and really do nothing all day and feel ok about it. So, I knitted, got caught up on Lost, played in the snow with my dog, ran errands, and now I'm about to make a real home cooked meal. Sounds like a pretty nice day, hey? It's such a nice break to have a complete day with no schedules or expectations.

All Creatures...

Last night while I was perusing the thousands of options on Netflix, I found this jewel:

As an animal-loving kid, I had read bits and pieces of James Harriot's books and really enjoyed them. This BBC drama was filmed in the late 1970's and despite its age, I really enjoyed watching a few episodes last night! It's set in 1940's England and the quaint English countryside and the interesting rural characters were a great break from all the modern suspenseful stuff we find ourselves watching. Yes, things are cheesy, and yes it's outdated but I still loved it. It's slow, quirky and yet rather peaceful to watch. Give it a try sometime.

Believe it or not...

It has not rained in Seattle for over 7 days. In fact, it has been sunny. You know, blue skies, mountain views, etc. Don't believe everything you hear about this fair city!
Come visit!!

In November

In November 2008 the U.S. elected a new president, I turned 30 at Long Beach with my extended family and we were Thankful on the island in my brother's family wonderful new beach front cottage.  That was pretty much what happened in November 2008.

Camping near American River

In late October my parents and I decided to go out and enjoy the fall weather. And it was beautiful and clear.... and COLD! We met up near American River just east of Mt. Rainer National Park




This is a lake we wandered around.
















This is Mt. Rainer. Really. Just trust me.









It was actually too cold for me to sleep in a tent, so I thought I'd try out my new (to me) Forester as a camper. Lucky me, I was short enough to fit comfortably inside... even sharing the space with a big furry puppy dog.

Here the intrepid campers are. After it warmed up enough for us to move around (it was in the 20's that night. brr).

Rainy Hike

Leo, Anna and I went on a hike to a nearby State Park. We had checked the weather forecast, it was the fall after all. The weather said that the chance of rain was rather small. So we thought, "Great, let's go!"

We had, however, neglected to specify where we wanted to know what the chance of rain was. While in Seattle, the outlook was good, near North Bend (Cascade foothills) it rained and rained and rained. Leo just kept looking at us like we were crazy. But we kept going.


Despite our weather-mania fathers' careful coaching, it looks like Anna and I have a ways to go with maximizing optimal weather and location events.


Well, the waterfall was nice, despite the weather.... and Leo's long sighs.

I just got ridiculously excited about receiving my new Dirt Devil Breeze Bagless Canister Vac (with attachments- 12 amp) in the mail today.

I'm not sure what to think about this.

Lawn Care

Um, since I've been home alone a lot this week (don't detect ANY complaint here) I've found myself noticing and doing... a variety of things that one doesn't do when one is busy working. This morning as I was watering my back lawn I noticed just how sparse it was. It has been likened to a balding man's head. Now, in my defense, it's hard to find the balance between wanting the place you live in to look nice and not wanting to spend lots of money on rental property. Anyways, as I was noticing my sparse lawn I also noticed very lush, abundant grass growing in the flower garden area, so I decided to try implants. Grass implants. You know, to help the bald lawn look better. I'll let you know how it turns out.