Winter Break Begins Early

Continuing with the theme of my previous post, brrr it's still cold! Yesterday (Wednesday 12/17), the Seattle School District in a knee-jerk reaction to the dire weather predictions for Wednesday, cancelled school. Sadly, they were left with egg on their faces (which is what you get when you beleive the weather forecasters here who couldn't get it right even if they looked out the window!) For while it was bitterly cold, the expected snowfall failed to appear. It DID snow everywhere BUT Seattle in all directions. Kind of like a reverse snow globe with the globe over Seattle and the snow falling all around. It left everyone scratching their heads in wonderment.

Today, the District is vindicated! Somewhere around 4am it started to snow. (How do I know you may wonder. It involves Cooper and throwing up all night, nothing more needs to be said.) It has continued to snow all day since then. This may look like a pittance to people who live in real snow country but for Seattle it is catastrophic. We are just not prepared to handle it. The bad part of the white fluffy stuff is that under it is always ice. That is the real problem. Now they haven't officially cancelled school tomorrow. But given the fact that there really is snow (unlike Wednesday when there was none) and it won't be going anywhere, anytime soon I am sure that Winter Break has already begun for the kids. (Pictures: fencepost in back yard, front of house, Tucker's adandoned garbage truck in the back yard)

BRRR It's Cold

Sometime during the winter season we get a cold winter blast of some sort. We might get a little snow with it too. Over the weekend we got the beginning of this year's winter cold blast. They say it is the coldest it's been since 1990 and may last as long as it did then (10 days). I remember the 1990 cold blast. It started during the annual Christmast party at the ad agency where I was working. I went down to the front door early (about 12:30pm) to wait for Dennis to come get me. I waited, and waited and waited. He was working about 30 minutes south of where I worked at the time. There wasn't one speck of snow where he worked but 5 minutes down the road he ran into about 6 to 12 inches of snow and snarled traffic. About 4 hours later he finally showed up. He had spent most of that time inching his way towards my office and hoping he wouldn't pee his pants! He parked the car and we went out to eat. We finally got home about 9pm that evening. We took our dog Duke out for a walk in the fluffy white snow. That fluffy white stuff hung around Seattle for almost a week.

For those family members who live in the snow on a regular basis you might find this odd, but what you have to understand about Seattle is that it doesn't take much snow to bring the whole city to a standstill. We just can't handle it. We only got the amount of snow you can see on the top of the ornament I hung in our tree outside but it is COLD here. The weather has been in the high to low twenties down to the upper teens overnight. It is supposed to stay that way through to the weekend with more snow possible late Tuesday early Wednesday. I love the snow but not the cold!

On a completely different note, I thought it would be fun to do a before and after shot of our living room. Every year I take all the family photos off our fireplace mantle and put up all my Christmas decorations. (It's a great chance to dust the mantle.) I love my fireplace mantle. It stretches across the whole west end of the living room. Usually it is completely full of family pictures. I guess I should have left those up to give the full effect but that's what is piled on the floor in the before picture. Over the years I have collected lots lots of little figures and knick-knacks that I pull out to put on the mantle. The last couple of years a company Dennis does business with buys us a huge, beautiful wreath that fits well on the wall. The three stockings on the left side of the fireplace are the boys' and were made by Oma after each of them were born. (She did this for all the grandkids and daughters-in-law, but not her sons.) The white one on the right is the one she made for me from my wedding dress fabric (she made my wedding dress). The one next to it is a cross-stitch I did for Dennis which replaced the ratty one he had from when he was a kid. (Oma got better at stockings as a grandmother.)

We usually go with Oma & Opa to get a tree (which I think I mentioned on my blog last year at this time), but we didn't this year. Instead we got a free tree from the lot where Tucker is working for the season. His boss gives one to all of his employees--super nice! I love pulling out the boxes with the ornaments. I pull them all out and the kids put them on the tree. There are so many that have such lovely memories attached. As I pull out each one, the wonderful, funny and occasionally sad memories just poor in. I love the feelings that come with decorating the tree!

Underneath the wreath on the mantle (and in the close-up on the left--although the wreath is the ratty K-Mart one we use until we get the nice one) is my favorite nativity display of all time. The Nativity is the same one we had when I was a child. It is a very simple cardboard creation from the 50s. I don't know exactly what it is about it that I like so much. Perhaps it is the way the artist used lighting to emphasize each little part--especially the lighting around Joseph & Mary and the baby Jesus (although you really can't tell that from my amatuer photography). Or the way all the pieces come together to form a beautiful 3-D scene. Or perhaps it is just the childhood memories that are associated with it. Whatever it is I love it. I my mom told me that she bought one of these cardboard nativities for each of my older siblings when they were young. You could buy them for a whole 42 cents as I recall. How I came to get one of my own is a story for another time.

So while it may be cold outside, the feelings are warm and cozy and full of nostalgia inside!

Quirkiness Runs Amok

I have been "tagged" by my sister in the great quirks confessional. Unfortunately for me, many of the best family quirks have already been spoken for.
I too have itchy ears. I buy my q-tips in double packs. They are not only handy for taking care of that inner ear itch they are great for getting mascara out from under you eyes.
I also must confess to being an obessional readder. I too have been known to stay up until all hours of the night trying to finish a book or get to a "good" stopping place. I don't do it as much as I did when I was younger because Dennis makes me turn off the light. Not sure why, since he is such a sound sleeper.
So when I to think of some original quirks I must confess that I kind of drew a blank at first. I had to think about it a bit. I didn't want to ask any of the boys for fear of what I might find out. I did finally come up with one or two. Maybe lame, but my quirks nevertheless. Here they are:
I hate to call people on the phone. I think I may have gotten this from dad. I never liked it as a kid and I still have qualms about it as an adult. Even if I know that someone is expecting my call I still really have to think about it. I got better about it when I became a receptionist. Answering the phone is not the problem because people are calling me. It's when I have to call other people that I get all nervous. I have to think long and hard about what I am going to say. I especially hate it when I have to call someone to ask for a favor or question. Sometimes when I hang up I go over the whole conversation thinking about what I might have said badly or might be misconstrued. Call me an insecure caller.
I hate waiting at stop lights. I like to take backroads with no stoplights everywhere I go. I have all these routes to most visited places that are unusual just to avoid stoplights. When i ride places with Dennis I have to grit my teeth because he is just to opposite. He goes on major roads with all the stop lights. Drives me crazy.
I hate chipped fingernails. They totally drive me crazy. When I was younger I was a nail biter (a nasty habit to break). I think I developed this habit largely from my dislike of snaggy nails. I would do anything to make the nail smoother, including biting it down to the quick. Of course I outgrew that habit, but I still can't stand nails that catch on things. I now keep my nails cut short purposely so they are less prone to breaking.
That's the best I could come up with. I am sure that I could come up with some other things (especially if I asked the boys). They are kind of lame, but I have alot of the family quirks besides the two I mentioned. Very funny how things run in a family!
I choose not to tag anyone because I think everyone has beend tagged. It is fun to think about quirks in a family though. Genetics or environment? Who knows!

Love/Hate Relationship & Other Stuff

I hate this tree! I love this tree! This is big, beautiful, amazing tree is across the street from our house. It is difficult to really appreciate how big it is without seeing it in person--especially when the photo is not the greatest. I love it in the summer when it is in full bloom. It has about a billion, maybe even a trillion leaves on it it. I hate it in the fall when the billion or so leaves begin to fall. If we are lucky, the prevailing winds are blowing in a northerly direction and the leaves mainly end up in the park behind the tree. If we are unlucky, the prevailing winds are blowing in a southerly direction and they end up in our yard, against our house, all over the street. Even if we are lucky there are still a few thousand or so leaves from this tree that end up in our yard. I have already filled up our gigantic yard waste container twice with leaves from this tree and the much smaller tree that is in front of our house. (I love our tree in the spring when it is full of plum blossoms).
Now Cooper, he loves the tree across the street! (As you can see in the following pictures.) He went over Sunday afternoon and took over this pile of leaves that some other kids had left. As you can see, there are plenty of leaves to make and remake again and again, one heaping, mound of leaves that any boy would love. Cooper had a heyday.
What's not to love about a big pile of leaves? At least when you are not in charge of raking them up. Fun times!

Groucho & Cowboy Dennis (the other stuff)
I guess Sunday was a banner day (or at least a day worthy of blogging about). Oma & Opa came over for Sunday dinner. After dinner we generally end up sitting around the dining room table chatting about this and that. This Sunday somehow the topic of discussion got on to facial hair or the lack of it. Spencer who is the throes of puberty insisted that he did not have any facial hair. I guess if it is blonde, and a little hard to see that means it's not there. Next thing you know, Oma has my mascara in hand and is "highlighting" Spencer's facial hair. I don't know whether to comment on his Italian heritage showing through or his resemblance to Groucho Marx. Needless to say there was alot of laughter that went on, but it did illustrate how much facial hair he actually has. It did make him look quite a bit older too. And yes, as you can see in the picture without Dennis, Oma colored in his eyebrows too. She did better with the eyebrows than the moustache because I suggested that perhaps she should brush against the grain of the hair rather than with it. You never know what hilarity while happen when Oma & Opa come for dinner! (And no, Dennis is not sleepy or high in this picture--just caught him between expressions I guess)

This last picture is for Ann. Don't know whether she ever looks at the blogs, but this one is for her. She had a hat much like this the last time Dennis saw her in the summer. He commented about how cool he thought it was and she offered to get him one. When the boys and I were down for a visit this summer, she gave me this hat for him. I promised that I would e-mail her a picture of him in it. I never got around to it and was reminded when we saw her at grandma's 100th that I needed to do that. So, since I was in a picture taking kind of mood this weekend, here's the picture for Ann. Ride em, cowboy Dennis!! (I think the hat loses a little authenticity when paired with the sweatshirt, but what can you expect for a city slicker!)

Grandma Turns 100!

Who in their right mind would travel 1000 miles round trip in two days just for a birthday party?! That would be us because it is not every day you have a Grandma who turns 100! That's right, this weekend we celebrated 100 years of life for my dad's mom, Lydia Vaden and it was on her actual birthday to boot, November 1. It seems like a crazy thing to do, but it was important to my dad and well, it was important for me too, so Dennis went along with it all.

We left Friday after school and drove halfway which was Pendleton, Oregon roughly four hours away. We enjoyed a dip in the hotel hot tub so I guess that almost made it seem like it was a vacation. We drove the final four hours Saturday morning and arrived in Moutain Home, Idaho at about 2pm Idaho time. Grandma's party did not start until 3pm, but we enjoyed hanging out with my two aunts at the American Legion hall where the party was being held.

As one might expect, the American Legion hall in Mtn. Home is not a particulary fancy building. It dates probably back to the 70s or possibly earlier and hasn't been updated since then. For ambiance, there is 30 years accumulated cigarette smell, low ceilings and poor lighting. It made it very difficult to get good pictures, especially for an amatuer photographer like me. I did my best but the photos were either too dark, people's faces too shiny or green or the photos were blurry.

It was a very simple affair with mostly family, various relatives outside of direct family and people from Mtn. Home. There was a country/folk/rockabilly/gospel singer on accoustic guitar (too loud as most people complained but grandma thought he was great). My family, meaning dad's descendents, probably accounted for half the people there. Five of the eight siblings with some of their kids and grandkids were there. Everyone from my family stayed until about 5:30. We the Chandlers were the last to leave when dad left. We then drove the four hours back to Pendleton, stayed the night and drove the other four hours back this morning.

Now why would we do such a crazy thing? I guess it was so my boys could do the two-step and the swing with their great-aunts Boots and Deanna. So that I could see relatives that I haven't seen in 20 years or more, many of whom I would not recognized if I met them on the street. So that I could hear over and over again from those same Aunts, my Grandma and most importantly my dad, how happy they were that I came. So that my children could meet a Great Grandmother that they have never met before (Tucker is the only one who has met her and the last time was when he was just a baby). So we could pay tribute to a woman who has lived a long, somewhat cantankerous (okay really cantankerous) and amazing life.

I don't know my Grandma Vaden as well as I should. We were never particularly close. I think I like to place most of the blame for that on her end (and she deserves alot of it) but I think it works both ways. I don't know that she was every very comfortable with our family and we with her. Who knows everything she had to go through in keeping my dad at a time when having a baby out of wedlock was so very frowned upon? There is so much of her life that is a mystery that she would never divulge and now never will. I don't know all of what makes/made her the way she is. I guess I should have tried harder to find out.

No one is certain how much of her birthday party Grandma will remember. She seemed pretty lucid but who knows. What I do know is that my boys will probably remember it for a long time. They will remember that mom made them go on a crazy drive for a visit that lasted roughly 3 hours. They will remember being kissed, sometimes more than once, by strangers who mom insisted were family. (The Vaden clan are a kissing kind of family). They will remember dancing with their great aunts, eating pickled beets for the first time (Spencer, and he didn't like them) and most importatly, I hope they will remember that family IS the most important thing there is and sometimes we do crazy things for them.

Why I Love the Puget Sound

We had a visit from my nephew Tyson the other day. He was up here interviewing for a job with Microsoft. We were talking about what it is like to live in Seattle and it got me thinking about why I love living up here. In my spider blog I already mentioned the great weather--truly! (If you like weather that never gets too cold or too hot for long periods of time, this is the place for you! I have to admit that I haven't been to some of these places--even though they are close--but they are places I intend to visit someday (soon). Pictures are worth a thousand words, so here is some of what is great about living in the Puget Sound!

The lighthouse is located in a park that is only a few miles away from our house. It's a huge park with hiking and biking trails, open fields and beaches. It is really cool.

I have always loved the Seattle skyline. It is especially cool at night when you are driving up from the south. I don't know why but it I think it is just beautiful. it is also really cool at night from a ferry.

Downtown Seattle is funky and cool and fun to walk around. Of course there is Pike St. Market but it is fun to wander the waterfront, the Seattle Center, Seattle Art Museum (first Thursdays of the month are free), and lots of other great places. The kids love to ride the bus from our house and wander all the cool places downtown. It is one of their favorite summer adventures.

The Washington coast is only an hour or two away depending on which beach you want to visit. We haven't been to that particular beach in the picture but every summer we go camping a the beach and it is one of the funnest events of the summer for everyone--even when it rains (which it has only done twice in the 15plus years we have been beach camping).

The walking train is in the heart of Seattle around a lake called Greenlake. The trail is just under 3 miles and is very popular for running. That is where I did most of my marathon training. It is beautiful at 6am in the morning with the moonlight glinting of the smooth clear surface.

The picture with the mountain in back is Mt. Rainier which isn't as close to us as in this picture but it is amazing nevertheless on a clear day. There are amazing hiking trails and camping spots. If you love the outdoors then you couldn't ask for a place with more beautiful outdoor opportunities all within and hour or two of the city!

The other mountain range is the Olympics which is the mountain range between Seattle and the coast. This is not the view from where I live but there is a park about 1/2 a mile from our house that has a killer view of the Puget Sound and this mountain range. On a clear beautiful evening, nothing beats the view from this park (Sunset Park) of the sun setting behind these mountains and with sailboats on the sound. If you listen closely sometimes you can hear seals barking and an occasional tugboat whistle.

Since no blog would be complete without one obligatory picture of my kids, the picture with the dragon is from a field trip I took with Cooper's class last year to the International District (or Chinatown for the non-PC crowd). Regardless there is amazing international cuisine to be found in the city of Seattle. Whether your taste runs to Thai, Mexican, Mongolian, Italian or BBQ, you can find it all in Seattle.

Spiders

When Cooper and I left for school this morning we noticed that it was a bit of a foggy day. In Seattle that means a pretty heavy dew. Because of the beads of dew, you could see all the spider webs. There were probably 10 or more of them in the evergreen bushes in front of our house, which you can kind of see here. They were so cool I had to go back in the house and get the camera to take pictures. Now we are NOT ones to get scared of spiders so naturally we were quite fascinated with all the webs and their shapes and intricacies. I find it interesting to observe the interesting shapes and patterns. They are just amazing. The weather was perfect for viewing them. We walked a few blocks farther and saw tons of webs all over the bushes everywhere. Then we saw a great big one, with a huge spider on it that I just had to get a picture of him. He was HUGE! But he was also beautiful, just sitting there waiting for something edible to come along. SO I had to snap a picture of him too. (Click on both of them to enlarge them to really appreciate how many webs there were on the shrubs and how big the Big Daddy was!)
It was such a cool morning to be out and about and it really made me think about how beautiful the earth is that God made for us. I was thankful for Cooper's excitement, enthusiasm and exuberance about the whole thing. There are so many beautiful things that we pass by every day without even considering. It also reminded me what I love about living in Seattle. Yes, it rains a fair amount here, and when it is not raining it is often gray. But...it is vibrantly green much of the year, the climate is generally mild (not too hot, not too cold). Tall mountains to remind me of Idaho but lots of water everywhere. Yes, there are spiders but there aren't any snakes and flies are almost non-existent. So today I am grateful for spiders and all the amazing things that are on this beautiful earth!

Spencer is a Teenager!

Yes my tall, skinny redhead is now a teenager! Spencer turned 13 on September 11. We went out for pizza on his actual birthday but saved the majority of his party for Saturday when the Chandler clan could be there. He was very excited to get two things on his list (he always has one prepared for every gift-giving occasion). He got and i-Pod and a gift certificate for Hollister, which he is out spending with Tucker as I type.
I am always so amazed at how different all my boys are from the other, with their own unique personalities and likes and dislikes. Spencer is my little chef. He loves to make desserts. He is especially good at chocolate chip cookies. He is very good a reading and following recipes so he will always eat well. (Unlike Tucker who may be living off Top Ramen). He is very artistic and has a great eye for color, details, shapes, sizes, etc. He is funny, a good student and has a great ear for music. Lest he seems to be nearing perfection, he also has a temper which has a very short fuse. When he gets in a snit, he has been known to shut himself in his room for a couple hours. Moody doesn't do justice to his moods swings at times. He is now several inches taller than me and within an inch or so if being taller than Tucker. He is probably about 4-5 inches taller than Tucker was at age 13. Perhaps he got the tall Chandler gene. Time will tell. He is a super kid and we are blessed to have him in our family.

1st Day & Wedded Bliss

Today was the 1st day of school for Seattle Public Schools. That means even more now than it did before since they are my employer. The last two weeks I have been working a little extra time to get ready for the big day. Well truth be told, I have been working alot of extra time. Will be looking forward to things getting a little calmer. We did make it through the 1st day though--both me and the boys. I always take a picture of the boys on the 1st day of school and the last day. So here is the one for this year. (I also took one of each boy alone.) I always like to compare the growth from year to year. I guess this one won't be all that helpful since Spencer is crouching. He is actually taller than me and was laughing yesterday about how short I was.

Today was also a banner day for Dennis and I. It was our 20th Anniversary! Yup that's right. We have been married for 20 years!! Scary. Even more scary, that's what we looked like on the big day 20 years ago. The kids find it hilarous that Dennis had hair. They think their dad looks really funny. I guess that would seem weird since they have only known him sans most of his hair. It seems pretty weird to think about being married 20 years, but then I kind of seems like we have always been married.

I guess the fact that we have Junior in high school and have 20 years means that we are officially old. Well at least that's what our kids think. Funny, other than a few extra pounds and a little less flexibility, I don't feel that different than I did 20 years ago.

Last Gasp of Summer

Here's another picture from Hawaii. This is at the aquarium on Maui. Apparently Tucker posted one of the aquarium pictures of him and his brothers on his My Space and somebody wrote back wondering who the unhappy, round-headed kid was and what was up with the sandal on one foot and the shoe on the other. They must have thought he was some strange kid! This is how Cooper had to walk around for a day or two to keep his foot wound from getting infected and keep the bandaging on. As I mentioned, we had to make a trip to the emergency room because he cut his foot on some coral within hours of our arrival in Hawaii. Luckily it did not keep him from having fun!
This picture of Spencer and Cooper is from the last day at the beach. They spent a long time playing together in the ocean. We spent about 3 hours at the beach (hence the sunburns we all got the last day). They raced each other on their boogie boards, swam, floated and lastly had a contes to see whose tower of sand would disapper in the waves first. They would build a tower then race back to the water to watch the waves pound their creations. It was amazing how well and long they played together! Gotta love the beach for brotherly love. Tucker spent the day in the shade with a t-shirt on because he had burnt his torso to a crisp the day before. Tanning Lotion 4 just isn't the protection you would think?!

We got in late Friday night. Saturday we had an extended Chandler family get together in Port Townsend which lasted the whole day. It was great to see Dennis' cousins from California. They are a great group of people. We didn't get home until after midnight. That left Sunday for doing laundry and getting ready to head for Idaho on Monday. At least Spencer, Cooper and I. Dennis and Tucker stayed in Seattle because they had to work.

We had a great time visiting my mom and dad. Cooper spent alot of time out in dad's woodshop. The cut and sanded, painted and had a blast. I love this picture of dad in his apron. We also went on a four-wheeler trip with dad up into the hills. It was wonderful to enjoy fresh veggies out of the garden every day. Who doesn't like new red potatoes and peas straight from the garden in cream sauce! We had it twice. We spent alot of time in the back yard under the shade tree just visiting. It was a lovely, relaxing visit. It was nice to see Allison and girls and Roberta and Gordon.

Cerese and I took the boys out fishing one evening. Or should I say casting. That's all it was. It wasn't that there were no fish. They were jumping like crazy! They just weren't interested. Well not in the hook anyway. The took plenty of bait. The boys thought it was great though and were actually pretty good at casting. We got bit by lots of mosquitos though.

We left Mackay a little early so we could spend time with Randy and family at Redfish. We wanted to see the damage done by the big wind storm. It was amazing how many treess were taken out by the wind! (See Celiacs blog for pics). We were only staying Thursday night so the boys and I slept in the back of the van. Amazing how much room there is with all the seats down! Well not quite as much as I thought when the boys started to heat up. I made Cooper sleep at the other end after only about an hour. It was cozy but it worked. It was nice to be able to hang with Randy and family. His grandkids are lots of fun. The boys had a good time with them all. The weather was not so hot (thunderstorms Thursday and overcast again on Friday) on Friday so we left early for Riggins and the river rafting expedition.

I think this picture probably looks similar to the one from last year. Not much changes from year to year but that's great because it is always fun! Cooper came on the raft trip for his first time. He thought it was great. We had a great trip downriver this year. Tucker made his first venture at going through a set of rapids in just his life jacket! Ah youth. Or should I say youthful boys! That's not anything I would have ever wanted to do--even when I was young.

So back to Seattle on Sunday and back to work on Wednesday :-( I guess it has to come to an end sometime. These past two weeks were awesome though!

Maui Memories

This will be a quickie as it is already 9pm and we are leaving early tomorrow morning for Idaho. This is one of cool things we did while in Maui. It was a 5 hour snorkeling trip to Molokini which is just a very tiny, horseshoe-shaped, uninhabited island just off the south end of Maui. It's a popular snorkeling spot so we were in the water with a few hundred snorkeling "buddies". Crowds nevertheless it was still really cool. We were in about 30 feet of water and could see all the way to the bottom. Once I got over not wanting to put my face in the water (which really is an issue for me) it was major cool. It is kind of freaky at first realizing that you are breathing under water. There was a lot of different types of tropical fish visible. Not as many as we were expecting but cool enough. It took about an hour to motor out to the island and we snorkeled for an hour or two. Spencer and I work wetsuit tops to help with sunburning issues--the water wasn't that cold of course. Then we took another boat ride to an area called Turtle Town--for the apparent plethera of turtles to be seen. Unfortunately it seems that the turtles are smarter than the tours. As soon as all those bodies hit the waters the turtles head for deep water. We did see one way down at the bottom. As soon as everyone got back in the boat, up pops a turtle about four or five feet from the end of the boat! Smart turtle. It was still really cool. Nobody got sunburned on this outing despite all the fears of sun glinting off the water making it likely.

We rented an underwater camera so we could get some cool pictures. They gave us a CD at the end of the cruise with all the pictures we took (so these are the only pictures we have right now--I haven't had a chance to download our camera yet and won't until we get back from Idaho). These next two underwater ones I took are from Turtle Town. I had finally gotten over that whole stick your head in the water phobia by then so my big thing was to try and get a picture of everyone under water. The first one is of Spencer just floating along on the top. It took a few tries to get it since just when I would get a good one he'd be too close or move the other way. Tucker was the only one who went all the way under however. He was the only one to swim the whole time with out the aid of a flotation device! (I didn't even get in the water without the float belt they had available.) All and all it was a pretty cool experience.

We had a great time in Maui. A cool family vacation which included a trip to the emergency room, a crazy lady and Mentos, sunburns on the last day, boogie boarding, a luau, watching the sun set and lots of relaxation. A trip we will all remember for sure. It's good to be home, even for a day or two. Will document more next time, plus the trip to Idaho!

Garage Sales

I have been wanting to clean out the furnace room (our general storage room) for months. I knew I wouldn't get around to it until the summer. Last week I finally went on a cleaning jag. After two days of work I got it finished (I also cleaned out the refigerater and the stove including moving them away from the wall an cleaning the floor underneath--eeeeuuuwww). In the process I thought why are we keeping all this stuff? I decided we were going to have a garage sale to get rid of things like Dennis' old bowling ball, my skis & boots and lots of other silly stuff that was just taking up space. (There's still plenty of stuff left in the furnace room.) We also made chocolate chip cookies and lemonade to sell. I told the boys any profit we made they could keep for the trip to Hawaii coming up.
We put signs up around the neighborhood and even listed the garage sale on craigslist. We held it this past Friday and Saturday from 9am to 1pm each day hoping that our junk might just be other people's treasure. Turns out our junk is pretty much other people's junk too. We did sell a few things each day but I would have to say that about half our profits came from the cookies and lemonade ($40--but still better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick as my mom would always say)! Still it was a fun adventure and something I have always wanted to try (although it is NOT on my "list").
It was very interesting to watch the different people that showed up from the "professional" garage salers to the neighbors just stopping by. Some people didn't even get out of their cars they just drove by slowly. Both days the weather was very nice so we just sat in lawn chairs and enjoyed the sunshine. I actually finished reading two library books.
Saturday afternoon when we were done, we just chucked the whole caboodle in the back of the van and hauled it to DI. I'm not sure all the work setting it up was worth the $40 profit. I don't think it is anything I will be doing again anytime soon or if I clean up the furnace room again. It does however always feel good to purge! Until I need something I got rid of that is!

Mama Mia!

Okay, I freely admit that I am and have always been a huge ABBA fan. Not too surprising considering I came of age at the same time they were internationally big (mid 70s to early 80s). In fact the ABBA Gold CD is one of my favorites to listen to whenever I have a long drive (like to Idaho). It really chews up alot of miles and keeps me awake because I am signing along. We have even endoctrinated the boys to like them too. By we I mean Dennis & I of course--although he may not be quite as big a fan as I am. There's alot of teenage/early 20s memories tied up in that group! Which by the way did you know that the name ABBA came for the first letter of the names of all the members--Agnetha, Benny, Bjorn and Anni-Frid (although she generally went by Frida)? I didn't, I just read it on Wikipedia.
A few months ago Dennis & I went with our good friends the Radfords to the 5th Avenue Theater in downtown Seattle to see the musical, Mama Mia! (written by Benny), that is based on their hit songs. I have to admit that we were a bit skeptical going in but boy was it fun! I laughed so hard in some parts that tears were streaming down my face! Part of the fun was knowing they were about to break out into song and trying to guess which one. Sometimes you could totally tell which one was coming and it was so campy & corny that you wanted to groan but you laughed instead. It was such a fun production complete with these amazing, tight, florescent-colored, spandex costumes at the end. It included a sing-along.--and boy did Peg and I sing along! The performers were excellent and did a great job.
So now there is a movie based on the muscial starring Meryl Streep. I don't know whether it will be as good as the theater production or as fun. I have my doubts. If you love ABBA I would totally recommend the stage production for sure. Peg and I have already vowed to go see the movie. It remains to be seen if it will live up to the stage production.
Meanwhile if you haven't listened to them lately or if you never have--you should (and I mean the original group--not all the really bad pop remakes that have been done in recent years!). It will make you smile

Many Partings

These are our friends the Dittos--Julia & Logan and their three children Lucy, George & Jane (the cutest kids ever!) Logan was Tucker's Home Teaching partner since we moved into the new ward (congregation) when Tucker turned 12. Logan has been a great example to Tucker and very vigilant about doing home teaching and including Tucker and welcoming him into their home and family. Julia and Logan just moved to Spokane where he will be starting a dental career. We invited them over for a last dinner before they left.

The nature of the area we live in in Seattle is that the wards that we have lived in are constantly changing because there is a large student population. The ward we are currently in has the biggest population and makes big changes every fall and summer. This summer saw a really big exodus of families who had been in the ward since we moved in. One of which was the Dittos.

We are extremely blessed to have these great young families in our midst but it is always hard to see them go. This one was particularly hard for the Chandlers. (Tucker was almost sobbing as he said good-bye to Logan that day.) We are definitely greatful for the positive influence they have been for our family.

Not a few days after the departure of the Dittos we got a phone call from our pals the Roches' letting us know that they would be heading to South Africa!! Neal and Steph have been a part of our family for about five years. They were our Home Teachers in our old ward and we never let go of the connection when we left. They have been to countless family functions, ran the Whidbey half-marathon with us and Neal's family owns the now infamous Cupcake Cabin. They too have been a positive influence on our family and will be greatly missed. They both left for South Africa on Thursday, Neal to stay and Steph will return in about 10 days to wrap things up and head back in September. Thankfully they will only stay there for a year--at least that is the current plan. A grand and exciting adventure for them that will be fun to hear about when they return but they will be sorely missed.

There have been many other families that we have made friendships with over the years who have moved on to other areas of the country and I am thankful for their positive examples and influence for my boys. Nevertheless it is alway sad to have the partings!

The Smell

There will be no picture with this post and as you read on you may see why. Tuesday night I had a training meeting downtown at the district headquarters. We were learning how to use the new Blackberries the district had purchased for all buildings for communications in an emergency. Since I am the primary user, I thought it was important to know how to actually use it.
So as I am sitting there in the meeting I keep smelling this smell. At first I think it must be the recycling plant across the road. Strong winds coming up from the South do tend to waft very unpleasant smells from the recycling plant towards the district buildings. But that was not it. The smell seemed to come and go. I moved from one place in the room to another and still I smelled it. I sniffed my hands, the blackberry I was using and still I couldn't figure out the where the smell was coming from.
Later that evening as I was laying on the sofa watching TV, I smelled it again. I hadn't smelled it since I left the district headquarters or up until that point but there it was again. I realized it must be on me. I turned my head to the left, the smell got stronger I turned my head to the right I didn't smell it so much.
Keep in mind, that I was still wearing the same clothes I had been wearing all day. I hadn't really noticed the smell at work that I could recall but perhaps I did because the smell was most definitely coming from my clothes. The left-hand side of my blouse to be specific!
So lets backtrack and take a little trip down memory lane. Over Memorial Day weekend, we went for an overnight to the Cupcake cabin. We had been shutting our bedroom door when we were gone for long extended periods of time so the cat would not get hair all over the nice, new, beautiful quilt that Aleta had made for us. So we shut the door of our bedroom. (I know you can already guess where this is heading). Of course, we checked to make sure the cat was not already in the room (wink, wink). There were several stacks of clean clothes all over on my side of the bed that I just hadn't gotten around to putting away and I was leaving them until we got back.
When we got back, I was starting to put away those "clean clothes" when all of the sudden I realized that there was cat poo under one of my shirts (no, not the one I was wearing Tuesday). I lifted the pile and sniffed, sure enough there was cat pee to go with. See, even when we got home we didn't realize the cat had been locked in the bedroom until I began putting away the "clean clothes". I wasn't sure whether I should, explode, barf or laugh. So I sniffed my way through the rest of the clothes to see which had been used as the litter box--well at least I thought I did.
So you guessed it! Tuesday night I was wearing a shirt with cat pee perfume on it!! You might ask how could I not notice before Tuesday afternoon if I had been wearing the blouse all day? It has been unusually cold here in Seattle lately and hour school building cold to go with it. All that day, I had been wearing a sweatshirt over my blouse to keep warm. I didn't notice the cat pee smell until I was sitting at the meeting with my sweatshirt off! The sweatshirt had been masking the smell all day long. I guess it was a small spot because otherwise the smell would have been more potent.
By time I figured it out, it was too late at night to do anything about it but laugh. Hope this makes your day seem better. Spending the day wearing a cat pee shirt sure beats most "bad" things you might have experience in your day!! Good times.

A Grandma Hall Apron

Last week was my birthday. No special birthday, just a birthday. I received a package from Inkom Crazy Lady in the mail. When I opened it, I was hoping it was what I thought it was (otherwise it was some pretty wild fabric if it was something else). Lo and behold, it was!! I was so excited. It was a "Grandma Hall" apron. I had been jealous of Crazy Lady, Celiac and Aleta because they all had one (Bert probably has one too). A Grandma Hall apron is the coolest thing in the world and Crazy Lady had made me one! That's what I am wearing in the photo of course.

What's cool about a Grandma Hall apron you might reasonably ask? Well, there are no strings to tie, it fits easily over your head and covers your clothing well plus it has the added bonus of the roomy pockets. What's extra special about it for me, is that it reminds me of my Grandma Hall who, just thinking about her brings a tear to my eye. It's true. She was an amazing woman who was so many things that I could spend pages and pages talking about her but I won't. I'll simply say that I look forward to the day when I will be able to sit down with her in eternity.

I will also think about Crazy Lady of course who is also an amazing woman that would take pages and pages to describe adequately. It will also remind me of how much I have been blessed in my life to be surrounded by amazing women. My mom, all my sisters, my grandmothers (yes both of them), my aunts, my nieces, my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law, women from my church, women from my children's school, women from my mission...you get the idea. There have been so many amazing, talented, interesting, wonderful and beautiful women in my life and I feel blessed to be able to count so many of them as sisters, family and friends.

Why should an apron remind me of women? Isn't that an old-fashioned, anti-feminist notion? Maybe so. But I have to say that some of the best, most profound and interesting conversations I have had with women have come around the preparation of food. There's something about working together like that which sparks conversations. There is a bond that develops as you work side by side.

Of course, the Grandma Hall apron is not only for women as Tucker shows here. It also looks quite fetching and manly on men (or almost men). Even ones wearing skinny jeans!

Now if you are interested, you can check out our recent weekend at the Cupcake Cabin on Camano Island. Always a good time with our friends. One of the boys favorite places to visit--especially when the Roches come with us. Just click on the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/MisteChandler/CupcakeCabinMay2008?authkey=a8mvC_OZMtw

Licensed to Drive

No it's not a new James Bond movie but I suppose if you were out on the road at the same time as Tucker it might be considered an action adventure. Yes it's true, it is now legal for Tucker to drive alone in the car. Scary (in more ways than one). He passed the driving test today--in one try no less. How difficult could it be since the test took all of 10 minutes according to his dad. I guess they are processing so many people every day they really can't do thorough testing. However, it did take him two tries to pass the written test. In this photo he isn't actually preparing to drive more than a few feet though. We just needed the car moved from in front of the driveway to in front of the house. So he drove maybe all of 10 feet after I took the photo. I think that counts as his first drive all alone. Glad we got that over with. We were all just leaving to go somewhere as a family and he asked if he could follow us in the car by himself. I guess he doesn't realize just how expensive almost $4 a gallon is. Oh yeah, he will be learning soon. Nevertheless, a banner day for any teen.