Opening Day

It was a glorious day in Seattle today. The sun was shinning, then it started snowing and then in the bottom of the sixth, the M's got it into gear and started playing some ball. The M's kicked off 2008 with a win!! Texas just fell apart. For some reason the M's have something against doing well offensively before the last third of the game. A couple of seasons ago, things wouldn't kick into gear until 2 outs in the 8th. We have really good pitching this year, we actually have had good pitching the last few years, but it doesn't do any good if you can't get your guys home. Oh well, a win is a win. I'm hoping for a season full of "small ball". When the M's won 116 in 2001 that is how they did it.
I'm sure Joji and I will go to a few games this year. However, I think I will wait for the threat of snow to pass. The funny thing was that while the snow was coming down in Seattle, just 25 miles south Tacoma had beautiful sunny skies. Global warming, go figure.

SPAM

Ugh, I just got my first spam comment. Bummer. Does anyone know how to delete a comment??
thanks :0)

** Updated **
A big THANK YOU to Kez and Marie for their help!!

The week that was...

Okay, so it hasn't been a full week since my last post (it feels like a month), but so much has happened. Some good, some not so good and some that make me want to scream, "Are you kidding me??"
Thanks to everyone who left a comment regarding "the grapevine". As always, never as bad as you think. It is the awfulizing that is the killer. As of now, who knows about tomorrow, but everything seems to be good. All misunderstandings and lots of good old "helping". And now that this drama has been settled for a good 30 seconds, a new drama monster rears its ugly head.
I have gotten 20 different emails regarding the purchase of white t-shirts for the end of the year. You would think I took the school budget and went to Brazil? The thing that I can't quite figure out is how the statement of "we (the school) can pay for the shirts" launched this massive outcry of parliamentary procedure faux pas. Really, are you kidding me??? I finally had to send the email: NO More emails regarding the t-shirts. It will be discussed at the next board meeting. So now I'm sure the "discussion" continues, I'm just off the distribution list.

As yucking the co-op stuff has been, other things have been quite fun. On Thursday we had dinner with the Browns and their friends Ernie and Muntsie. I hope I'm like them when I'm in my 70's. She is Italian and they have lived all over the world. So interesting to hear their stories. Muntsie also makes a killer spaghetti sauce. Now I am not the biggest spaghetti fan, but this was to die for. I even scored some to take home. I could hear Sammie from the kids table saying this was the best food she had ever eaten. Yup, it was pretty good. Ernie is quite the bread maker and he taught Matt the tricks of the trade. So to go with our spaghetti, we had fresh bread. Yummy, it won't last long, fresh bread. Oh so good.

Friday brought us snow it great northwest. Yes, you read that right snow and it actually stuck (for a few hours) Joji and Sammie rushed out to build a snowman. Of course, the weather put the kibosh on our cabin plans. Snowy roads and thought of being held up in a small cabin with 9 people, not so fun. We have decided to wait until the weather is better and the kids can run free. So instead of the cabin we spent Saturday rehanging kitchen cabinets at the Browns. While Holly was at work, the big boys rehung cabinets and tried to repair the "workmanship" of the previous owner. It is amazing how it is those little things that make all the difference. It wasn't even my kitchen I was excited to have cabinets with actual shelving and a fridge door that opens the right way. Holly was so excited. To celebrate, we made calzones and they were good. It was a long day, but a fun one.
Today, we are going to venture to the pool. Ahhhhh, I can't wait :0)

The grapevine

Ah yes, the good old grapevine. That marvelous way of getting information you may or may not want. Today, the grapevine is in full swing in good ole Browns Pt.
I have spent many hours this year cleaning up messes (if only these messes were in my home, my house would be oh so clean) I try not to creat these messes, although, I am human and occasionally I may have inedverntly stirred the pot, but mostly I'm like the clown in the parades with the wagon and shovel who runs behind the horses.
Today I think I am neck deep in "mess" and unfortunately a lot of it is just plain old BS.
I'm taking a break from my phone calls, trying to plan the best plan of attack. I'm afraid that I already know what I have to do. I must collect a group of folks to come sit in a room to discuss one topic that is not pleasant and it will most likely lead to several other issues none of which are any more pleasant. Oh the fun, it is a good thing that I get a nice fat paycheck for this...oh wait, I volunteered for this, sigh.
Oh well, I refuse to let this bring me down. Maybe I'm a little delusional, maybe I've been enjoying the smelly markers too much, but I have to believe the organizations I volunteer for are a little better off because of my efforts. Why else would I give all my time and energy (certainly not as an act of avoidance to cleaning my house??) Anyhoo, it will be an interesting few next days.
On the upside, I am heading out of town for the weekend. We are going up to our cabin at Stevens Pass. We might even get some snow. How crazy would that be? Ben got an ax from the Easter Bunny and can't wait to split some firewood. He also gets to bring a friend. Our last few outings with our friends, the Browns, has left poor old Ben odd man out. Now that his friend Joey is coming along everyone should have fun.

Happy Easter

I hope everyone had a very nice Easter. Poor Ben and Sammie had to figh off the rain and slugs to claim their eggs left by the Easter Bunny. Despite the rain, they had fun. We went to my mom's for brunch and that was nice. Food just seems to taste better when it is handed to you on a plate. Of course there was the added bonus of not having a mess to clean up in my kitchen.
Late in the afternoon, it kind of cleared up and we had a little blue sky. Just enough to spark the gardening bug. Yesterday was dry so the lawn was mowed (apparently Joji reads the blog) and I was able to do a little pruning and weeding. Our back yard beds really need to be weeded, but I don't think it will be that bad of a job. There is not a lot of stuff I have to be real careful with so I can take my horseshoe hoe to it and whip it into shape in no time. If you don't own a horseshoe hoe, I totally recomend it. It makes quick work of small weeds (big ones too) and anything that makes me want to weed is worth its weight in gold. We also have a couple of weed hounds and Ben and Sammie fight over who gets to use them. How great is that. Unfortunately, Sammie is still a little too small to truly make her efforts worthwhile, but she still thinks it's fun. I'm hoping for a break from the rain so I can tap into my new found enthusasium.
I also realized that today is my one year anniversary for the blog. Doesn't seem like a year. I don't know if that is good or bad, I'll go with good. Thanks to everyone who stops by and says hi. It really means a lot and I feel like I have made some friends from all over the world. How exciting for a stay at home mom from Tacoma :0)

"Surprise" cookies

Okay, I really enjoy baking. I am also kind of a stickler about the end product. I just can't do "bad" stuff. Not that everything I make is beautiful and wonderful, oh no. What I mean is that I take a little bit of pride in what I do. Folks seem to think I'm a decent baker and I want them to keep thinking that.
So tonight as I was wondering around aimlessly through blogland, I stumbled across a post about "surprise" cookies. They sounded good enough, chocolate cookie, marshmallow, chocolate frosting. I googled the recipe and they seemed easy enough (I even had everything in the pantry) Okay, let's bake.
They came together easily enough and since the recipe didn't make a bunch of cookies the whole shabang didn't even take an hour. So now the moment of truth. Ben decided he would be the official taster. He took one bite and I knew. I asked him to rate the cookie on a scale from one to ten. One being the worst cookie ever and ten being the best cookie he ever had. He gave these a "3". Then Joji came down and he tried one. Joji likes just about everything and his comment was, "if you are putting frosting on something, I prefer your cupcakes". Ouch
So now I'm stuck with a batch of sub par baked goods. What do I do with them?? I hate to just throw them out, but I really don't want to be associated with these cookies either. I'm trying to convince Joji to take them to work tomorrow and put them in the staff lounge while no one is looking :0)

The rain, rain, rain, came down, down, down...

Well, here I sit looking out my window at yet another dreary rainy in day in Washington. Some rainy days are easier than others. Today is an errand day and so the thought of traipsing through parking lots full of big puddles is less than exciting. I have to return a dress I had bought for the auction. When I tried it one and showed Joji his comment was "do you have anything else?" Ouch. Okay, it was kind of ugly. I was hoping it was more funky than ugly, but it was ugly. So today is my 30th day on the return policy so I have to make sure it goes back. The bonus of having to return the dress is that I now have some "found" money and there is a Marshalls at the supermall (yes, that is actually the name, but don't let it fool you) I'm hoping to find something fun and springy at Marshalls. Our local TJMaxx had been kind of bare lately so it will be fun to shop somewhere new.
The other bummer about the rain is that our lawn, although green and lush, needs to be mowed. Now I'm not the kind of girl who won't do "man's work" like moving the lawn, it is just that I HATE our mower. It is huge and loud and has "overdrive" so I feel like I'm being pulled helplessly behind it. I know that if for some reason I was to let go it would stop, but I still feel panicky. I have visions of the mad mover running everything and everyone down. We used to have a nice little electric mover. I LOVED that one. First of all it was quiet, no louder than a vacuum. it was light and easy to maneuver. But alas, it wasn't macho enough and it was given away. So now I have to wait for my husband to mow the lawn and he is of the belief that you can't mow when it is wet. If we have to wait until it is dry, my lawn won't be cut until August!! Oh well, I'm sure he will read this and I will get the "if you want the lawn mowed so badly, go ahead" speech when he gets home.
I guess I shouldn't be too hard on him. It isn't like I have been out doing my yard jobs either. I so need to cut back and divide my 'mums' and weed, weed, weed. I really hate weeds. I wish I could develop a love of dandelions, but I just can't (too bad, we have some real humdingers)
On the first of April a little nursery down the road will open and I'm sure it will provide the much needed inspiration to get out and garden. I always go and buy the same thing every year. I can't help myself, they have the prettiest flowers. Spring break is around the corner, so hopefully we will have some good weather. Although it is just a given that most rainfall to happen in the spring usually happens whenever the kids are on break.
Okay, I'm off for a little retail therapy. Wishing everyone a Happy Tuesday from a very soggy Tacoma :0)