Done with that!

Well, that's done! It is really nice out there. Sharen and friend, Michelle, came over for a couple of days. I think we spent more time out there than anywhere else!

She also brought me a couple of pictures that our brother has drawn... He is such a great artist. Sharen also had the picture he drew for her - and I didn't think to take a picture of it... I'm really bummed about it too. It also was really pretty!




Now to find frames!

Another beginning....

A few days ago we decided we wanted to move the gazebo over closer to the new deck. Of course, I didn't want to do it the easy way and put it on the deck.. SO... we are putting in a patio...

Here is the beginning.....

The middle


and the end of today....
I have about 300 blocks in...and about 100 to go.

My hands are raw
My head is sunburnt (that's why Keith's hat is on my head)
and I feel a great sense of accomplishment!

Keith has been great about watching the boys
while I play in my rapidly disappearing sandbox!

And I will wait until about 10 pm to see if I can still move.... LOL

Dad got the back terrace all lined out and the first blocks went in. The 'berry patch is now really well defined. (That's a joke!) But the raspberries are in and producing!

Dad had to leave and didn't finish the project so Keith and I completed putting the blocks on (Dad had already done the hard part) ~ and we had to hire someone to 'smooth the edges' hehee......


It really looks great out there. All smooth - no lumps and bumps - and the seed is already growing! By Labor Day - we should have a really nice little play spot in the 'orchard'! The fruit trees that Sallie planted the last 2 winters are really taking off. We had a lot of really good plums this year - the crows thought so too! They got most of them before we got a 'picker' for the ones we couldn't reach!


The pumpkins are taking over the world out back! We will have to go to the neighbors yard to pick the sunflowers... hehee!


They are trying to take over the radish bed and the other pumpkin bed. Talk about greedy!


And it's a great year for zucchini! I've baked and frozen bread, made brownies, and had lots of stir fry. Amanda took some home, Tim was 'gifted' with some, Sallie took all she wanted for now, and . . .


The beans are taking off. I hope someone really wants green beans really, really badly ~~


And ~~~ squash anyone?

This is just what Clint and I picked one morning. We've certainly got a bumper crop going!

Summer is progressing!! LOL

More, more, more

It seems like the faster I go - the behinder I get!

The baby will be a month old soon and still is no closer to sleeping for longer than 3 hours at a time (not at night anyway LOL)! Totally adorable, of course, as all of my babies have been.

Went to Powers to Uncle Jim's 83rd Birthday. Had quite a turnout and saw many that I haven't seen in years! He had family travel up from California and down from Portland and over from Arizona. Michelle was in attendance with her 2 youngest - and she has another on the way !! Way to go girl! I spent the day getting re-acquainted with many of my family. Of course, Baby slept most of the day - so he was ready to stay awake most of the night so Sunday was pretty much a rest day. Other than a bit of weeding - not much else went on.

Keith has been out of town for the last couple of weeks - he will be home again tomorrow! Yippee! I miss him so much when he is gone... Just miss him.... Dad came in to town and spent the afternoon and had dinner - I fixed meatloaf - I think he could eat it as often as Keith could! i saved some for Keith as I know he really, really likes it too. And he will be home tomorrow! (I'm sure I already said that - but I'm sooooo glad!)

Dad is looking at putting a couple of terraces in our back yard. Can't do all of them as the garden is in the way... Boy is it growing! We already done cabbage, cabbage,and more cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, strawberries, onions, lettuce, and raspberries from there - and lots more to go!

I took pictures of the picnic and of the garden - but again - I can't get the picture upload tool to work. That gets frustrating as all getout!!!

Anyhow, all is well here, missing my dear husband, and trying to keep myself occupied. Hope all is well with you.

Busy week~

Independence Day was great! Sallie the chef invited several over and we had our own celebration with wonderful food. Of course the food is always wonderful when we are at Clint and Sallie's. We had BBQ'd tuna, tri-tip, and chicken, accompanied by all the salads, chips, dips, fresh garden veggies (and I mean RIGHT out of the garden!), and great company! We met several of our neighbors that we didn't know and saw a few that we haven't seen since we were here last year. We are all so very thankful to all the Men and Women in Uniform that makes free and easy gatherings like this possible. Without them things like this wouldn't be possible!

We took the plunge and went up to Powers to visit. For as much as Keith travels - he doesn't care for the Powers Highway )-: But he went and we spent a really nice afternoon visiting with Aunt Nita, Uncle Jim, and Dad. Then they dropped by here for a bit Thursday afternoon. I got to show Dad our little place here and talk a bit about all of our 'big' plans~ several years' worth to put it mildly... but who knows what we might get started... with a little help from our families.... LOL
Kim's picture!
Keith is gone again for awhile. It's a good thing he loves to travel - as he has been doing a lot of it lately! We went up on Thursday for him to fly out really, really early on Friday morning. Then Baby and I came back down the coast. It was a really pretty drive. Beautiful blue sky and the dark green trees! Just Wonderful! except the part where I got stuck in the Oregon Country Fair traffic... And I wasn't even going to it. I'm not near 'country' enough for it! LOL

I got home just in time to welcome 2 little girls for the weekend and the three have pretty much kept me busy today. The girls "helped" me pick peas and strawberries and thin out the carrots. "We" also got some apricots, apricot jam, mixed berry jam, and strawberry jam done for Amanda to take up to S'te this weekend. Got all of that done just in time for Amanda to take some still~cooling jam up with them. Thanks so much Amanda and Jason. I got all of S'te's 'stuff' sent up ~ and forgot to give Amanda Danika's birthday gift... CRS... it's coming of fast....

Time to get kids ready for bed....

Driving, driving, driving, done....

Left on Monday evening to take Mak, Tetee, and CB up to see their new home... as Tetee so sweetly put it. My week with them has come to an end and it is time for them to bless their parents!! We really had a wonderful drive up... the kids (including CB - unbelievably!) watched ET - likened him to a foster kid who needs to be taken care of until his parents can come get him - Stopped at Drain to have Mexican dinner - boy, oh boy!, can CB eat!! he ate his dinner, sampled my dinner, and finished Tetee's!! Mak - bless his heart! - had his formula topped off by a cup of broth - heated by the wonderful waitress we had there. Then back into the car for the remainder of the trip....

As per normal for us... we got our directions mixed up and had to be 'found' and escorted to the new abode of the Elmores - about 2 am - after many miles out of the way and back again. We didn't end up far from them when Keith finally called and said SOS!!! Rod and S'te were there within minutes to show us the way in!

We truly enjoyed spending the day with them, getting the grand tour, playing checkers, and soaking in the 'new' hot tub!

We got up this morning and left the sleeping Elmore clan to catch the Bremerton/Seattle Ferry!! It was a beautiful crossing. I love the water!! and the georgeous homes along the waterfront!! It took just about an hour before I could see the Seattle skyline - I recognised the Space Needle from our trip to Seattle back in '99!! LOL




We made a wrong turn coming out of Seattle so ended up going clear down the I5 to the I84 before going East to Pendleton. I'm not sure how much time we actually added to the trip... :-( ... but ended up in Pendleton right at 4 pm. End of visiting hours. So we will stay here tonight at the Holiday Inn Express.. and visit tomorrow before heading back to the Coast! It will be a short visit.... but still a visit... ;-)

According to the news/weather reports... It is going to be really hot, hot, hot tomorrow... all the way to the coast... Thinking I'm really thankful for A/C!!!

So... anyhow.... this is where I am for the night... headed out to the pool....

Having fun now!

We have had a really nice visit! We went to Mingus Park for lunch, to feed the ducks, and to play, play, play!
Mak is giving CB a good push at the Toddler Playground


I think they are enjoying themselves!

And of course, our little hamarina!!


CB fed some ducks and ate some of the bread himself..

Mak shows CB just how it's done...

CB entertains himself really well. He seems to like the deck a bunch

while Tetee watches cartoons all huddled up

and Mak just lays back and enjoys his Sunday morning TV fix...

The weather has been pretty nice if a little windier than usual. About normal for here but a little chillier than they are used to. The valley has been really warm - so that means more wind for us.... so cool it valley!! We get some strange looks in our long sleeves and sweatshirts :-) Highs have been low 70's just about every day. Garden is doing great ~ the sweet peas got so heavy they pulled the fence forward and fell - Keith had to 'rope' them up or we'd be picking off of the ground!! Mak has had fun picking strawberries on a daily basis and Tetee helps me water every afternoon. CB runs and runs and runs his little legs off keeping up with everyone! Mak helped me pick the broccoli and cauliflower amidst Tetee's comments that she 'don't like that stuff' so we were wasting our time... LOL Well, she didn't eat it - but Keith and I sure did! and planted more for later..... :-)

Time is almost up, we will be taking them home next week. I am sure glad they got so spend some time with us.. What blessings~~

Frustration

If anyone ever, ever, ever asks you if you want your AT&T services bundled.... run, don't walk, run away from the conversation!! Keith has just spent 2 whole days trying to find out why we have a late payment on our accounts that have been set up on autopay for somewhere around 5 years!

Back when we went on the road again.... In April, I called AT&T, that used to be Bellsouth, and asked them to disconnect our home phone number. The very nice man at the other end of the line convinced me that I didn't really want to do that - but instead - I wanted to have all of my oh-so-important calls forwarded to my cell phone. (2 months later 2 calls have been forwarded~~) So, for only about $20 per month, my whole billing system would not get all messed up and I wouldn't lose my number, and everything would transition on all smoothly, nicely, and I'd continue to have a wonderful, nice life.....

Fast forward to when Keith opens 2 AT&T bills - one for long distance and 1 with a late payment on it!!!!! So I go back to my email that said "Your AT&T bill is ready to review" and.... I click on the link.... and I use my login and password (as I have most every month for about 5 years) and I am greeted with the message that.... "changes have been made to this account and it is no longer accessible online".

So Keith calls customer service.... He gets the 'residential people' - because that is the number on the bill he has been sent... They can tell him that the bill is overdue - they can't see why - because the line has been put on remote call forwarding so no further information (or the billing breakdown) is available, so I get concerned that his cell phone and data card will be 'suspended' also. So I ask why it isn't on the bill.... no one can tell me - because it isn't residential. So I go look at the wireless website and I see where they have charged the credit card for June, the bundled mess for May, April, March but no information any further back. By this time Keith has been on the phone for a couple of hours being transferred here and there and he just wants to know what the billl is for and to pay it. So I try to pay it online.... again ... cannot access account online.... even tho' the continuous recording says... 'save time and go to att.com'!!! What a circle jerk!!!

So Keith calls back and presses the option to pay the bill that should have been an autopay and we never got a paper bill and couldn't access it online... and the woman says 'there will be a $5 charge to pay this bill via a live representative'!!! So I lose it and tell her that I am not giving AT&T an additional $5 for thier errors and messed up systems!! and Keith hangs up!!!

This morning at 5:30 am he gets up and starts calling again. He finally gets the bill paid - hopefully without the $5 additional charge and he was trying to find out why the bill was late and not autopaid so that it would not happen again (and he has the paper in front of him that says they have received wireless payments monthly forever!) and NO ONE COULD TELL HIM just what the $150+ broke down to nor could anyone guarantee that his cell and data card would not be interupted.!!!

So about 7:30 this morning - after being transferred around for 2 more hours... we will not have a landline in Florida any longer. Keith's cell and data card are safe, the bill is paid, we still do not know why we have been double billed, there is no call forwarding, and no one can tell us because no one (even the combined billing department) can access a combined bill once it has been un-combined and no one can see the individual portions of a bill that was combined.

AND, for taxes, I need the prior bills. The ones from January to May. The ones that I usually print only the pages I need for records. I cannot access them online as the service has been interrupted. They transfer Keith to the department to get copies of the bills that we didn't get because we did it all online and electronically (you know - save the trees! and the burn barrel) and I didn't print because it isn't the end of the year and I don't need them yet.... and she says ~ ~ all bright and cheerful ~~~"Of course we will gladly send you whatever copies you need. There will be a $3.50 fee for each previous bill added to your next bill. What address do you need for it to be sent to?" At that - he hung up. I was wishing all sorts of bad things on the system as a whole (not any singled out person!) and sorely wish that 'customer service' was again CUSTOMER SERVICE. In relating the same story over and over again for 2 days - and receiving totally irrevelent answers over and over again - I don't know if I wasn't explaining what happened in English and understandably - or if no one really cares as long as they get paid. I'd bet on the latter!!! And poor Keith.....

So, as the many, many reps at AT&T continually said..... ~~~~ "HAVE A NICE DAY!!"

They were here....

The Elmore family arrived about 2 days ahead of their eta... and I am happy for every minute they were able to be here!!! Evidently they didn't spend as much time traveling as I thought they would!!

While they were here they accomplished all sorts of things.... Thanks to Shawn and company at D&R Traditional Builders - the studio was finished in time - Tim got himself out of the camper - and there was a place for them all
to sleep!! Yay!! So now, - the studio is done, my kitchen is finished (except for the stuff that I haven't decided what I want done yet!), and the garden is growing! Rod and S'te mowed the lawn, made sure the garden was weeded, shopped for a vehicle, and stripped, textured, and painted the kitchen walls. On Saturday we had company from Powers and Myrtle Point. Aunt Nita, Uncle Jim, Susie and her Husband, and Linda all came bearing food.... Amanda and Jason brought the kids and a homemade potato salad (that was totally yummy!) and we had a great time catching up. Amanda brought me the cutest handmade invitation for Danika's 2nd birthday. These girls.. they are such great Mom's! I was really suprised that no other family or friends came - I am sure that it is their loss, I know we missed seeing them. The weather was not really wonderful... it was overcast, windy, and usual June Coos Bay weather.... but that is why we planned it for so early to start with! LOL... So we had enough food left over ~~~ that we sent a bunch of it away.

They had themselves and the 3 oldest kids packed up and were on their way to Washington by 1 pm on Sunday - and were waylaid by backlogged traffic due to an 'incident' on the bridge in Portland - so didn't make it up there until really late!

So I have the 3 youngest for a few days, or so. We are having great fun playing in the yard and taking care of the garden. Mak has been picking the ripe strawberries for me, Tetee and Mak helped to weed the garden and thin the carrots today... Tetee has been busy helping me water every day... Maybe tomorrow I will get a bit more done.

I was going to post pictures - but I can't make my 'puter behave, so you'll have to go to Flickr to see the final result on the studio.
The studio

Destini's Birthday

S'te and Amanda with their 'almost 2's"!

Really cool hand crafted invitation!!

And Naner and Jayman in my freshly painted, new cabinets, and floored kitchen!!

Live is wonderful ~ ~ you just have to be patient ~ ~

Just Waitin'

Workin' hard watching the guys :) getting the bathroom revamped so it will be really useful this summer! The old rotten bathroom next to the studio is being refurbished! I know it's been awhile.... the toilet we took out said 1947 on the lid.... Habitat for Humanity looked at it when we took it over. The took the toilet - but the sink wasn't all that great.... so it went to the dump... as well as a lot of rotten wood. I'm sure the bugs that like rotten wood will have to find new homes.... LOL

Keith is visiting his Mom in Indiana and will attend his 50th Class Reunion later today. I will miss not being there to share it with him - but April and the kids went over with him. It will be a really nice family time. Maybe I will get to go next year!

Later this week S'te and family should be dropping in for a short visit on thier way North to Washington. I am just so excited!!!!

The weather has been typical Coos Bay, cloudy and misty in the morning but sunny and really warm in the afternoon. I'll be jinxing it by saying this... but I hope it continues for awhile. The garden is going great... should be out there weeding now... but .... well.... you know how it is>>>> :-)

At 9 tonight it will have been 32 years since my precious baby girl
was added to the blessings of my life...

And I don't have the Senior Picture
or
the Navy Great Lakes Picture
or
the Brand new Mommy Picture
but I do have....

I mean 13th... (oops)

Thank you Lord

Kitchen Project Complete!

Hooray hooray!! All done - well - except for the walls (they just HAVE to wait for S'te) The table came today so I'm all done with the kitchen until later when something is figured out for the walls and ceiling. There was 4 layers of wall paper over the wall-in-a-wall and painted paneling over that!! We took 2 loads to the dump!! But it's done and it's beautiful - even if I do say so myself!!

Lookee Lookee!!!
From this

to this!!

And it all got done before the Elmore's come to visit in 2 weeks! And Keith will be getting here just before they come - so I'll have my blessings all in a row! I'm so happy!! Just wonderful. I'll be so glad to see him - it seems like forever since I left him in San Diego and came up here to get things ready for the family visit. And he is traveling to 2 more states before he comes back to me. But he will be here soon!

Happy 37th Birthday

On this day 37 years ago I became the proud Mommy of you! As I do every year, I have spent this morning happily nostalgic with the many, many fond and silly memories we made together... You were one of the greatest highlights of my life....
All these people and many, many more are wishing you were here today to celebrate!

Your sister, S'te

Aunt Sharen, Grandma Judy, and of course, MeGrandpa Doland and Your Nieces and Nephews

May God be with you, wherever you are!