Our Week

This past week we've been in Coeur d'Alene visiting my family.  Daniel has had the week off from school for Spring Break.  (Is it Spring yet?, he asks).  We have been staying with my parents.  We have also been visiting my sister Cheryl, her husband Kent and her kids Justin and Emma.  It has been a nice week, although I have missed Jeff.  He was not able to come with us on this trip.  Maybe next time.  The boys have enjoyed spending time with Grandma and Grandpa.  It makes me thankful that we were able to move back to the northwest and be closer to family, not just Jeff's family, but also my family.

Our Visit to CDA 2 Years Ago

Figgy

I have owned a cat for as long as I can remember.  My first cat was Patches.  She was a calico, long-haired cat.  We got her before I can remember.  She had lots of kittens.  She was a very good mother and a good hunter.  She lived a full life and died of old age.  I can't remember exactly how many years she lived.  Then, we inherited an orange, short-haired male cat called Quimby.  He was one of Patches' kittens.  He was my sister's cat, but then she had to get rid of him, and she gave him back to us.  I adopted him.  We think he got hit by a car or died of unnatural causes, because one day he never came home.  He was probably around 7 years old when he died.  When I moved out on my own for the first time, I immediately got a cat.  His name was Drake.  He was a black and white, short-haired cat.  He went outdoors a lot and unfortunately was hit by a car.  He was only 4 years old.  After that, I swore I would never own an outdoor cat again.  Next, I was given a cat by one of my students.  Her name was Cleo.  She was a long-haired, all black cat.  She lived indoors with me, but died early, I think because of liver failure.  She just quit eating and lost so much weight.  We finally put her to sleep.  She was only about 5 years old.  Soon after that, we got Figgy.  She is a short-haired, calico.  We've had her since 2003.  She is a sweety and puts up with a lot of the boys' pestering.  Here are some of my favorite pics of her.

Checking Her Email

Doing The Dishes

Cat-Napping

Sisters

 Last weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to spend the whole weekend with my sister.  It was great to just hang out, talk, and spend time together.  A few years ago, we started doing an annual sister's weekend.  Here are some of the pics from years past.  I love you sisters!  And I hope we continue our long tradition till we're taking bus tours together in our assisted living centers!

San Francisco 2003

Seattle 2004

San Francisco 2005

SoCal 2006

Morro Bay 2008

Victoria, BC 2009

Portland 2011

  

Holidays

I love the Holiday Season.  For me, it starts in October with Halloween.  I start to get excited about the upcoming holidays.  I love Thanksgiving.  It might be my favorite.  It brings family together.  I have fond memories of sitting by the fire, eating good food and the anticipation that I still have Christmas to look forward to.  Then, of course, there is Christmas.  Christmas is fun, and although I used to be sad when Christmas and New Years were over, now I look forward to what comes after those holidays...Spring!  With Spring comes Valentine's Day.  I love the hearts, the candy, the flowers...all of it!  The next holiday I like to celebrate is St. Patrick's Day.  Not that I'm Irish, but in the past couple of years I've had fun preparing a "green" meal for my family.  Last, but not least, for me is Easter.  Of all of the holidays, Easter is my favorite candy holiday.  But I also enjoy coloring eggs and hiding them.  I suppose I can't write this without mentioning July 4.  I do love that holiday too, but I don't think of it as part of the holiday season.  I see it as an added extra in the middle of summer.  I love celebrating all of the holidays.  And I've enjoyed celebrating them with my kids now. 

Recent Trip

Jeff had some time off this past week, so we decided to go visit my family in Coeur d'Alene, ID.  It's about a 6-7 hour car drive away.  This was Simon's first road trip, and he did pretty well.  He only fussed a little.  While there, we got to see my parents.  We also got to see my sister Cheryl, her husband Kent, and her kids Justin and Emma.  It was fun to let the cousins play together.  We enjoyed yummy food together, hanging out on Sunday and watching the Super Bowl together, and playing in the snow.  I even went with Cheryl to one of her kickboxing classes.  It was great to see our family again.  I am reminded once again how happy I am that we moved closer to my family and can now see them more often.

Daniel & School

I'm so glad that Daniel is enjoying school.  When I first thought about putting him in preschool this year, I was so worried that he wouldn't be able to be apart from me for that long.  It's only 2 1/2 hours a day, but I still feared the worst.  I was also worried about his behavior.  He's so outgoing and bubbly, but I worried that others might see this as annoying instead of his enjoyment of life and other people.  My fears have been put to rest.  He loves school.  He loves going each day and doesn't want to be late.  He likes his teacher and his classmates.  I can't believe how quickly he is growing up.  And I find it fascinating what he is becoming.  Here's to my "biggest" and loving life!

My Love/Hate Relationship

I have a love/hate relationship with exercise.  There are many reasons why I do exercise.  It keeps me healthy.  I get to eat more.  I feel better mentally and physically when I exercise.  I like how I feel when I exercise.  It's time that I can spend on myself.  But I have to be honest, most of the time, I really don't like to exercise.  Very rarely do I look forward to exercising.  And when I am in the actual act of exercising, I just can't wait to be done.  So to you exercise, I just have to say, I love you...but I wish you were easier to live with sometimes.