Home projects – well not HOME projects, but projects done at home.
Carl & Ashlan are out at the ballgame for the evening.
I stayed home to ready for the morrow.
I should have walked down with Carl, but had decided the weather was not good enough to take me away from the home front. Of course, the sun came out just as he left, but I had made my mind up at that time.
Time up tomorrow = 6 AM. Not too bad, as long as I get to bed tonight.
Night-night
Grass, Sidewalks, Thread and Moths. (And Garbage)
Grass – This is the first year we have had grass that is worth caring about. Trying to mow the lawn on in Seattle can be interesting. I have been balancing work and rain. I completely missed last weekend due to rain and games. So the grass was especially long, a must mow this weekend. (It did rain almost every night this week and remember the 4-10s put me later in the evening getting home.) The weather report indicated Sunday AM was the most likely time for not rain over the 3-day weekend, so I had that in my sights. I did dawdle a bit over coffee, and when I got outside (only 9 AM) it was raining. But not hard, just a drippy drizzle. So I started in. Finished the back yard (with the new grass) in a sweat, and really needing a break. Carl arrived home (from hitting baseballs, by himself) and graciously completed the front yard. He was the first to use the new lawnmower other than me. We have a reel mower, human powered. I keep telling myself that is the right thing to do. Our lawn is not large, and we are fit enough. But our neighbor finished her similarly sized lawn in about half the time with her electric mower. …
Sidewalks – Took my first official training walk today. That would be with a group organized under the Susan G. Komen 3-Day rules and posted on the web-site, so you can find other like-minded individuals to join for long walks. This was an 8 or 9 mile event, I don’t remember. I got to reconnect with several people I had seen in previous years, and chatted most of the walk with a women I met on one walk last year. A brisk pace, mixed with breaks at Starbucks, grocery stores and a McDonalds. The McDonalds came into play when the grocery store restroom had no toilet paper, no hand towels and a sharps container (hmmm – well at least they are providing a receptacle for what is disposed of in their restrooms.) And for those that are anti-the-evil-coffee-giant, they are very supportive of walkers and welcome the use of their facilities even when no one purchases anything.
Thread – I have had two mending prodjects (for Anne) waiting for attention for some time. They finally got to the top of the heap yesterday, only to be joined by a third.
The first was mending to split seams on a pair of Carl’s pants. They seem to be caused by use of the front pockets pulling at the adjacent seams. One was accomplished on the 50+ year old sewing machine, but the other required a bit of hand sewing.
Next up was a “seam” on a sweater that had pulled apart. I hand sewed this, and hope it works. It would probably be better fixed with a thin yarn, but I did not have any in the correct color, and unlike some relatives I do not have a large stash of yarn in my house.
Third was a late arrival of a very thin material top of Ashlan’s. It had several holes in one area on the lower front. It looked like something had snagged it somewhere. It has many colors as well, which hid the holes from a quick view. I pinched the material to put the holes in an interior space and sewed, by hand along the front. This resulted in a line of sorts, but it is central low on the top and may not look too out of place.
Moths – Not responsible for the holes in the top (they happened in Canada). And we have not seen holes in clothes, but we definitely have an infestation of small moths. They generally are in the basement. We think they are breeding under an old rug on the floor down there. So the rug will be history, but maybe not this weekend. We need to figure out where we can put it outside until we can get to the transfer station (dump). It has been raining a bit, which limits the places you want to put a moldy, moth infested rug. This will undoubtedly instigate another long-needed prodject to clean much “trash” out of the basement (to clear the rug for moving). In the meantime, Carl gets in touch with his warrior self and goes on killing rampages.
Garbage – This is the start of Day 3. It is a holiday, but apparently the garbage truck people take no holidays. And we slept in. I may have previously mentioned that we are at the start of the garbage route, first thing in the morning. Now we did manage to get the yard waste and recycle out to the curb yesterday, but the garbage usually waits until the morning. Since I leave before it is due out, usually not a problem. But it is a holiday. Now we don’t normally come close to filling the container, so two weeks in one is not going to be a huge issue, just smellier than your normal week.
Hmm – seemed very much like the work week. Except
Then home to the new cable TV. After watching the Seattle sounders on TV (regular stations – no box needed), we are now flipping around to see what’s out there. That should keep us entertained for the evening. And yes it definitely feels like we are wasting time.
We made it through the 4-10s (and 1-8). A bit weary by the end of it.
And one of us is planning to go in tomorrow.
And tomorrow the cable gods are coming.
So the Hockey game is on regular TV – no cable needed.
I think our family is ready for a little break.
Everybody seems to be looking for that extra rest.
Nothing like a weekend in the sun – music at Northwest Folklife, lawn needs mowing.
Yeah – right.
It was a cold wet day today, and I think tomorrow is supposed to be the same.
I am not looking at Sun(ny)day yet.
Thinking about a long walk and don’t want to get my hopes either “up” or “dashed”.
Theme of the week – working longer than usual hours. 4-10s, which means you don’t get out of work until 5:30
I had seen an advert for barbeque ribs, and got a hankering.
We have been going to the Honeybaked Ham store for years. For Honeybaked Hams. Usually in conjunction with a holiday. Apparently they do much more.
Ribs it is.
Except the store closes at 6 PM.
And it is about 30 minutes or more from the office.
Out the door – through the gate – (wait for it to close, wait, wait – GO)
Over the hills and through the valleys, on our way to the freeway.
Freeway is fine, until the exit.
Screeech to a halt.
Through the long line of exit traffic and actually made the light,
and the next light, but not the next.
Hmmm, next to a driveway to a gas station – we cut through (shame on us).
One more light and then a right on red, into the parking lot – try the door?
YES! Last sale of the day.
Ribs and rice.
(I am not sure what it says about my life lately that this was about the most excitement today)
Kind of how my week has felt. 10 hour days with Ashlan, and I went in early today – even though she had the day off. The drive home was a slog – and I didn’t have a carpooler. Part of the reason for the slog is a soccer game tonight.
A “Friendly,” a game that does not count against either teams record. The Sounders are playing Boca Jr., an Argentinian team. Apparently they are not the dominant force they have been in other years, so maybe we will have a chance. Since the Sounders just played on Saturday, I am not sure how many of the big stars will put in long minutes.
And it is raining. Off and on all day. More on than off, but maybe it is starting to break up a bit now. But bring the ponchos.
Ashlan, Carl and some of the kids went to the Mariners’ day game. Carl is now doing laundry, but Ashlan has crash landed for a bit, to try and get energy for the night game. The Mariners won a fun game last night, with a late comeback to win 5-3. Today they scored 4 runs in the 8th, and won 5-4. Ashlan’s record at Mariner games may reach .500 by the end of the year.
Time to figure out how many layers of clothes to put on! (It got all the way up to 60 today!)
Ashlan has decided to try working 4-10s this week so she can have Wednesday off to go to a day game. This, of course, means that I am also working 4-10s, plus Wednesday. But since I am planning to take a few days off next week, this is necessary work time anyway. And I don’t have to explain why I am staying late everyday.
But that got us home a bit later than usual.
Relatively nice, so we decided to take a walk (Carl & I).
So Ashlan drove us to Northgate.
We usually just set out from home. But it was a later start than usual (4-10s), and we didn’t need a really looong walk, just 3-4 miles, and dinner was cooling in the kitchen already (meatloaf).
Northgate is a mall, one of the oldest in America (“indoors”, with public restrooms). Our goal was not the restrooms, or one of the many stores with walls, but a kiosk for Comcast Cable Television everything you could ever want to pay a monthly bill for.
It is 2010 and that means the World Cup, the every four year soccer celebration. Also the one time we feel compelled to get not-over-the-air TV so we can watch more than just a few games. So we sold our soul for the multi-channel bonanza, being installed on Thursday.
The World Cup itself lasts less than 2 months, ending July 11th, but we will probably keep the cable through the summer. By the end of a few months we usually have realized that we don’t need all those channels, there is not that much more to watch than the few channels we get over the digital air.
We did not opt for the movie channels.
But Ashlan & I did have a movie night last night, after the cable purchase, walk home, and dinner (meatloaf – it’s a turkey meatloaf – mmmmm). We saw “Being There” staring Peter Sellers. It is an older movie, but really good. I had seen it before, and it turns out Ashlan had as well. That didn’t matter, it is full of nuance and little bits that can be found if you watch, and more importantly, listen closely. We highly recommend this picture be added to your Netflix, Blockbuster or Scarecrow Video account.
Whether to talk about the weather.
It certainly has been keeping us on our toes.
I don’t dare go out without gloves, jacket (or two), hat for rain.
And then I get too hot, except when I am shivering.
Today has been more work than play.
Work, play soccer, work (finished a task), work some more (finished a sub-task, plus most of another sub-task).
I am now ready for dinner, and then some time to sleep.
We walked to the match today.
The Seattle Sounders have a March to the Match before each game. It is about a 5 block walk with the band and boosters and anyone who shows up. Today we marched 6-7 miles and then joined the march for the last 5 blocks.
On the way to the March we stopped at the Seattle Art Museum and got a membership. A Picasso exhibit is coming in the fall, and I think being a member will work in our favor at that time. I like the museum for other exhibits as well, and this will get us there more frequently.
Before reaching downtown we walked near the east edge of Lake Union for a bit. As we passed an older couple picking up trash along the road, a blue heron soared past in landing formation. Three of the four saw the heron, I did not. We walked a bit further and spied the heron, on a dock that was attached to some working building (e.g. not a houseboat).
The heron stood for a bit. I tried to take a picture with my very old school cell phone. Found the correct button, only to be told that my memory was full. Now, the fact that I had to find the correct button should alert you to my non-use of the picture taking ability of the cell phone. Memory full?!? Yes, full of 200 pocket pictures.
Back to the heron. He/she started to watch very carefully to one side and took a very slow, ginger, set of steps to the end of the dock where the building was attached. The last steps were very slow, and very gentle. It was much like watching a cat stalk his prey. The neck “coiled” by compressing into a tight s-curve. The heron had been up-right to this point, and I expected to see a strike once the neck was compressed. But instead, the heron pivoted around its hip joint, bringing its head closer to the water. Finally the head sprung forward, beak first, the final foot to the water and nabbed a small frog. (I think it was a frog, but was not close enough to get a true verification.)
It was really something to watch unfold, literally. The time from the landing to the strike was probably less than 5 minutes.
Back to the match. The Sounders lost 1-0 to the San Jose Sharks. It was an exciting game, and sunny. Ashlan and Carl are at the baseball game now, it is raining, but they have a big umbrella called a roof.
I have not been here because most of the time I have been distracted by other things, or too tired (lazy) after being distracted to turn on the computer. Last night I was finally home after being distracted by work all day. However, with the house to myself I found that our internet access was on vacation. So … I tried to do the Soduko (Sudoku?). [Maybe that explains why I always say it wrong too.] I could not even finish that! I did manage to have some dinner (leftover stir-fry), watch Jeopardy and get into bed early.
Carl & Ashlan were at the Mariner’s game. The Ms finally managed to score more than a few runs and won!! Ashlan is very pleased as this will be only her third win of the season (3-8 I think). I generally enjoy the Mariners games, but it was nice to just be home for a change. And, many of my plans were thwarted by the lack of internet, so really a quiet evening. The others were thwarted by the pouring rain outside.
Up now, a little breakfast, and Carl & I are walking downtown. Our plans are to sign up for an annual pass at the Seattle Art Museum (Picasso later this year), and then on to the Seattle Sounders game at noon.
Later!
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