Happy Mother's Day!

I hope your Mother's Day has been a very good one!  Jim & I went to Bellingham & had lunch with Ty & Nicole & Nicole's parents Tim & Tina.  We were treated to a yummy meal of oyster mushroom/swiss chard or kalamata olive/artichoke quiches, fruit & either mimosas or bloody mary's before lunch.  The kids had even made strawberry ice cream!  After lunch we visited & took a walk, then Jim & I headed south for home, stopping at Trader Joe's on the way.

I called my Mom & we had a good visit & I talked with my middle son Nate & my oldest son Eric!  All in all, a perfectly wonderful day.

Jim's sweet Mom, Mary, at her 90th Birthday!  She passed March 21st, 2013.  Mom had celebrated her 92nd birthday 6 days earlier.  I loved Mary so much and think of her every day--she treated me like the daughter she never had.

And here's my Mom, Arlene (the woman in the middle with the calm smile).  Mom will celebrate her 85th birthday in May.  She is the foundation of our family & raised all 5 of us with love, kindness and a whole lot of patience.

I hope this finds all of you well and happy.  Safe travels and thanks for stopping by.  Cheers from the oldtimers at the end of the road.

Lilacs, Groundhogs & Grad Students

I haven't been here for awhile.  Was really busy last weekend cooking for the breakfast I'm hosting this Thursday morning at the clinic in honor of my current--and final--grad student!  I have been a precepter for 10 grad students & enjoyed nearly every second.  I feel that this is my legacy to my profession.  My grad student is also applying for my job.  Way cool.

Everyone I talk with in our area is raving about how nice the lilacs are this year.  Our next-door neighbor has a huge lilac bush bursting with blooms.  They literally scent the entire area here at the end of the road.

I had an interesting moment early this week.  The alarm on my phone went off.  The dog woke up, walked over to the bed wagging her tail & walked with me to the door of the bedroom.  My thought was 'This is a Groundhog Day moment'.  I think Ari & I have played this scene out every day for more than 7 years (since she was a pup) and we would do it again the next morning and the morning after that and well, you get the picture.  It was endearing mostly but also a little disconcerting.  It was as if my life had become very routine--rote really.  I thought about it for a second & then found the comfort in knowing that things were going to happen in a specific way at a specific time.  It won't always be like that but for now, it's fine.

I hope all of you are safe, happy & enjoying your present location.  We're all fine smellin' the lilacs here at the end of the road.  Next up--rhododendrons. Thanks so much for stopping by.

The End of a Work Week

Gosh, I'm tired tonight.  Have been waking up about 2 AM the last few nights & then unable to fall asleep again.  We got a pizza for dinner last night for the first time in years & we both decided never to do that again.  The gluten & cheese definitely came back on us.  So we had simple food for dinner tonight--vegs & hummus, red lentil dal with Indian Fried Rice.  Good stuff.

Jim had quite an adventure today.  We got a good deal on upgrading our network speed with Frontier. We were told it would be "blazing fast!"  Who can refuse that?  The technician came today to do the work.  I sure wish you could've been here to hear Jim's stories about this guy!  Jim described him as "twitchier than my nephew with ADHD!"  Then my darling husband proceeded to demonstrate how the tech would slip his tools off his belt, click them off & on rapidly or play with them & then put them back in his belt & then exclaim that "there has to be a splice somewhere!  I'm going to have to re-wire the whole *@% house!"  Well, that didn't happen.  He found it--right where Jim told him it was!  He also dinked something with the phone jack--the buzzing noise is GONE!  And best of all, we went from 6 mb per second to 23--"blazing fast!"

Jim's de-winterizing the trailer & cleaning out the fresh water tank for its' first fill.  I might start putting things away out there this weekend.  Our gorgeous weather is due to end Saturday at the latest.

I think that's just about all the news that's fit to print from us at the end of the road.  I'm goin' to bed.  Thanks for stopping by.