Sunday, March 31, 2013

Birthday Girl

Our bestest big sister is having a birthday this weekend! Happy b-day Susna!

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Signs of Spring

Crocuses are popping up, it got into the 60s today, and the summer card tournament has begun.

Monday, March 25, 2013

The Usual

We are all crabby. Our beloved (not quite as beloved right now) Zags bowed out in the Round of 32. This is how we all looked Saturday night.

This.

This girl is destined to rule the world.

This Day in History

March 25, 3019 (Shire Reckoning). Frodo, Sam and Gollum destroyed The One Ring. Go have elevensies to celebrate this historic event!

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Gah!

We woke up this morning all rested and ready for a full day of hoops. Only to find that Avista is doing line maintenance and our power is out till 11.

We are now ensconced at Fast Ed's drinking mimosas and watching on 8 screens. So maybe not a bad thing after all.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Big Dance Tomorrow!

We are all on pins and needles waiting for the NCAA tournament to start (well, it's actually started, but play-in games don't count IMO)

Our Zags are set to play Thursday at 1 pm-ish.  Katie has taken two days off so that we can cheer for our team and watch our brackets slowly go to hell together.

We're sick of all the "Zags are over-rated" blarghety blargh.  They've been to the tournament 15 years IN A ROW, they're for real this year folks. (From my lips to God's ear)  Of course, we're doing our darndest to do NOTHING that will jinx them.

Off to prepare the shrine and find all the lucky clothing, troll dolls, etc.  I had planned to have my Zags hat knitted up for tournament watching, but the kit seems to have disappeared.  Rats.

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Me and Bill Walton...

We're gearing up for March Madness by watching LOTS of college basketball games.  Which means listening to the "unique" rants of Mr. Bill Walton (someone called him "Sasquatch Shakespeare", which is dead on)

So the other night, BWalt was going off about how the Stanford team should be drawing inspiration from "the greatest road win of all time -- Van Cliburn"

Of course, I was the only person in the room who had any idea what Walton was talking about.  I drew from my vast well of trivia and explained that Van Cliburn won the 1958 Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Russia (our arch nemesis at the time) against all odds -- a Texan winning this competition in the heartland of the Commies.

Van was given a ticker tape parade in NYC upon his return to the States and was a superstar in America as well as in Russia.  

Only Bill Walton would make this connection.  Which is why you have to love the guy.

Monday, March 4, 2013

No Pix But Reporting Anyway

Of course I failed to take any pictures while I was in Seattle last week.  It's what I (don't) do.

But I had a great time helping The B during her 2nd week of convalescence after knee surgery.  This gal is a nurse's dream.  She actually has upper body AND core strength so she can get around on crutches, she likes to cook and doesn't mind hopping from fridge to counter, and about all she asks is the occasional fetching of a glass of water, a pill or her Kindle.  Once she masters hopping in and out of the shower by herself, she's totally independent.

Meg and the babies came over twice, once to deliver dinner and a second time for a lovely birthday lunch (Megan's)  Of course, being the mean child that she is, she told her mother that she DID NOT want anything 'handmade by you'.  LOL, never change Meggie :-)  And being the nice mom that she is, B-Z obliged with gifts from Lululemon and Anthropologie.  Susan and I threw in tchochkes from Target.  Bam, birthday done.

Hadley and Carson are delightful, as always.  And special bonus, we headed down to Kip's to do a little babysitting of Maddie and Allie.  Such cuties, and Al showed me her favorite horse White Star at the Safeway.  Way better than the terrifying clown at our grocery store.

I went to "knitting night" at 2 different locations with the knitting queen (aka Susna).  The lady meets with a knitting group about 12x a week, I think.  Lots of fun, and I scored a free Dutch Oven from her friend Karen.  Just have to lug the 30 lb. pot home and camping can commence.

I got a pair of socks and hat finished while in Seattle, so wasn't completely idle.  It was such fun to get to spend time with my sis, I loved it.  And we visited Mom at her assisted living home.  It's nice to have her close to the old homestead, even though she no longer remembers where she is (or us, to be honest. But that's okay, she seems to know that we are people she likes)  We also tackled the overgrown rhodie at Dad's grave and hacked it into submission.  I got a lot of grief about my pruning technique, but hey I got the job done.

Next time I come over, I fully expect B to be back in the gym daily, back to work (where they SAY they can manage without her but we all know better), and with that ACL fully recovered!

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Put Down That Fork

I'm a fast eater. A very fast eater. This may be a result of growing up in a family of nine kids. Slowpokes got no seconds.

My challenge this week is to put my fork down after every bite. This is incredibly difficult. But I made it through day one. And wasn't the first person done at dinner. Amazing.