Spring Break

This week is spring break for Mark, so he is here for the week before heading back to Boston this week-end to finish up the academic year. We have no big plans, just hanging out and enjoying the time together.
We continue to clean up and clear out. We tackled the garage last week - what an ordeal that was! We thought it might take a couple of days, but ended up taking a full week. It is finally done and looks great.
This week we are having the driveway jack-hammered out and re-poured. Thirty years of wear and tear, freeze and thaw had taken its toll. Now all we need is a dry (no rain) day to get the new cement poured. For anyone who knows about Pacific Northwest March weather, you know that dry days are few and far between.
The grandkids are coming for a few days and we're really looking forward to that.
More as it happens....
We've been told that we don't keep our family blog very well updated, so we'll try to improve.

The Moving Process Has Begun

Yesterday we had two realtors come over to our house and today another one will come. We are interviewing different realtors and will decide later this week who will be our listing agent. It didn't help that we had more new snow and temps in the low 20's, so one realtor parked in the street and walked down our snowy driveway to avoid possibly getting her car stuck. The landscaping and roof could not be seen, but the two here yesterday will be back later this week and hopefully they'll be able to see a little more.
The house needs to be in 'ready to show' condition now. We've spent the past year getting rid of a lot of things we don't need any more - what the real estate world has coined 'clutter'. so after 30 years in this house, we are ready, but unfortunately, the real estate is very poor. Oh, well, we'll just see how it goes. If it sells, we'll move, if it doesn't, we won't. Once our chosen realtor posts pictures, we post a link to them. Stay tuned for more updates.

Great Wolf Lodge

Our main Christmas gift to Drew and his family was a night at the Great Wolf Lodge here in Washington. This past Thursday was the day they picked. We drove down to visit them and see what this place is all about. What an amazing place! It was so much more than we thought it would be. It is not only an indoor water park, but also a great lodge, with restaurants and lots of activities for kids and adults. JJ's favorite was the electronic scavenger hunt. Hannah liked the water part features. Both kids loved the kid cabin they had in the room with their parents. It was complete with video games and bunk beds. If you are interested in visiting one of these lodges, here is the link: www.greatwolf.com

We had a fun visit with them all. They drove 3 hours east and we drove 2 hours south to meet and spend some time together. Can't wait until we move. Some realtors are coming this week for some preliminary talks on getting this house on the market - the worst housing market in my life time.

Spring is in the Air

It seems that every February we get a few days of sun and warmer temperatures. We just had those days. It makes such a difference. The daffodils are peeking through the soil, John started on the annual chore of pressure washing the decks, I got out and pruned the apple trees and rose bushes, the 100+ fern on the property are getting cut back, and we even got the roof cleaned. This morning, we are back to our usual rain, but our little taste of spring was fun while it lasted. We have often had snow and wind storms in March, but hopefully, this year, we'll be spared.

Drew is over on our side of the mountains this week-end, so we're meetimg him for dinner later today. He's our family tax whiz, so we are going to pick his brain, since we are not at all happy with out potential tax bill.

Winter Sunset and a Grease Pot

This is an odd pairing of topics, but it's just what came up today.
To start....John took the sunset picture at our house a few days ago. In the winter, the sun sets behind our house - in the summer it sets more to the side (west) of our house. This time of year, the setting sun rays stream though the back windows and flood the house with sunshine. The picture turned out great, so we thought we'd post it. Today it is snowing again, but the sun was nice was it lasted.

As for the grease pot......Anyone remember grease pots that were kept next to the stove in years gone by? When I was growing up in the 1950's, my mother kept one next to the stove. After cooking bacon for breakfast, she would pour the residual grease in the pot. Then the next time she was frying eggs or cooking green beans, the grease was used in the place of butter. As we became more aware of health issues, the grease pot was packed away.....never to be used again. My sister found it and recently gave it to me as a gift, since I had the matching salt and pepper shakers that completed the set. The threesome now are displayed - but not used - in our kitchen. I thought it might bring back memories to others, too.

Grandkids' New Pix

I do know that everyone thinks they have the best-looking, smartest, nicest, most wonderful grandkids and we are no exception. Here are some new pictures of our grandchildren that we received as Christmas gifts. I just had to share them!
JJ is 8 years old and Hannah is 5.

January Celebrations

January is a month full of one celebration after another in our family.
Both my sisters have their wedding anniversaries this month. My nephew and brother-in-law both have birthdays this month, as did my mother. She would have been 85 on the 25th. All the celebrating takes place in California, so we rarely attend, but it does make for a busy time just trying to remember and acknowledge all these events.
So here goes....
Happy Anniversary Tara and Richard!
Happy Anniversary Ava and Steve!
Happy Birthday, Richard!
Happy Birthday, Derek!
Also a happy birthday to my childhood friend, Colleen.
And....Mom, we all still remember your birthday, too.
February won't bring much relief....we have two more birthdays then, too, but they can wait a while.