An Almost Perfect Day

Sunday started with coffee , a pecan roll and pouring rain
Then Nita came for me and we went to her church. The pastor
talked about salvation and its true meaning.
By the time we got out, the sun was trying to come out so
we kept going into Seattle for the annual Greek Festival.
That includes food, children in costume dancing and music.
We ran into an old friend from The Galilean Bible Book Store days,
and 8 or 10 people Nita knew from work.
We ate stuffed grape leaves, lemon soup, a spinach dish and
baklava with ice cream.
We strolled through the food, jewelry and craft booths and
since the sun was still shining we shopped a bit at U Village
Nita helped me decide on outfits for Italy. Then after a little
nap, I went to the gospel meeting where I spent most of my
life every Sunday and Wednesday night. The message
was on the things that God hates. The one about
sowing discord among brethren touched us all.
Two invitations to come over for treats. So I
enjoyed fresh peaches and ice cream with the Cantrells.
Yes, it was an almost perfect day.

Missing The Egg, Sabrina was very glad to be making a road trip to
Pasco for a wedding.
She had been on call, just in case the Mustang did not do the job.
But the fully decorated getaway car looked great and despite the rather
loopy groom behind the wheel, the newlyweds left in style.
So, I was glad that the next day, Sabrina had a brief encounter with
The Sheriff ( dark blue, top down, and sparkling clean). That was
just before we left town. Sad to say, when we went to fill her up, there
was Goldilocks - very snobby, did not even pause for a glance at
Sabrina. Not to worry, Sabrina was carrying precious cargo, The Trooper.
This little red Beta, was part of the wedding decorations and some of the
special guests got to take one home. We are special. The Trooper looks very happy
in our kitchen.

French Women don't get Fat/Neither does Julia Childs

I know because I read the book " French Women don't Get Fat"

and learned at least 5 things

1. Savor your food - don't rush

2. Order dessert, share it, leave some

3. Drink more water

4. Walk

5. can't remember, If you read the book, can you

let me know if you learned something?

and I know about Julia because I have her cook book, I saw the movie, and I made Beef Bourguignon

IT TOOK HOURS

When I think of Julia Childs I am thinking of Meryl Streep. I never saw the real Julia child, we did not have a T.V. We still don't, well, Darrell does, but he doesn't know Julia or Meryl. Be he ate the Beef Bourguignon and raved. He better rave. It took hours. An hour to shop. I got everything, except chuck bacon. Never heard of it. And she asked for small onions, but she meant pearl onions. How can you saute 18 to 24 small onions, unsliced, in 1 1/2 tablespoons butter and 1 1/2 Tablespoons of oil. It can't be done. But aside from that, I kept to the recipe. On Thursday evening I spent an hour and a half preparing. ( we are now up to 2 1/2 hours). Then on Friday, I started at 3:00 and did not finish until 6:00. ( ok, I did take a little break about 5:00 ) Step by step - 4 minutes in the oven, take it out and too the meat , another 4 minutes in the oven - Really!

And just writing about it uses up calories --

But the coffee is ready , so is the "fudge", and I am not French.

At our neighborhood tea party,
some of us Grandma's had talked about joining the young families on back to school day. When the other Grams were busy, I hesitated. Then I heard Komo reporter John Repp talking to some of the kids right up the street at Cherry Crest. I put on my funnest shoes and started out the door. Top of the driveway, I met up with two of the little girls I know, starting first grade, Emily and Ava, with their parents. So I joined them.



Cars are parked all down our street - just like 20 years ago. At the end of the block are the patrols, they look the same. The school still is the same outside and has the same sign out front.
But now they are serving coffee and pastry. And there is a sign up for after school Chess. School started way earlier this year. There are Grandparents bringing their grandkids. That did not happen 20 years ago. But the biggest difference is the huge bags that moms and dads are carrying with crackers, handiwipes, Kleenex, etc. One lady was carrying two Gap bags and two grocery bags. The two boys beside her were carrying back pack. On the way home I saw a Dad on a bicycle built for two. That is new.
And here come late arrivers. running in their new Nike's - now that has not changed.

An early bath, PJ's and out to dinner

A cool bath on a hot summer afternoon, a few tub toys, and bubbles.
Jackson and Claire had a great time freshening up and getting dressed
for bed. No, not going to bed. Not ready for that. Going to the Burg. We
always like to visit the Burgermaster when they visit, and since we don't get out
of the car, we can wear whatever we want. I often wear slippers, just because I
want to. Jackson's favorite PJ's have short sleeves and long pants and spidery
arms - he is Spider man. Claire's summer set is yellow with dragonflies. The photo
does not do them justice, but it seemed appropriate to add a picture to the story.
We all enjoyed those juicy burgers ( mine with bacon ) fries, and then a blackberry
milkshake. Just one to share. 1,000 calories never tasted better

It started with a short road trip to Vancouver Island at 7:00 Friday morning.
I say short, but when you are on the road for 5 or 6 hours in one day and 5 or 6 the next, you bring along something to do. I brought along some Holiday letters that I have saved during the past 4 or 5 years.
Also 3 books
Look Great Feel Great ( Joyce Meyer ) I snagged that from Martha's free table
What Einstein told his cook ( Robert Woelke ) Did you recommend this or did I?
Respectable Sins ( Jerry Bridges ) Gift from Alice
That said, I will leave you to guess what I spent my time on.
O, I brought my journal, too.
Back to the road trip.
We were getting close to the Twassen Ferry dock, with about an hour before take off, with a police car right behind us, when Darrell thought we were going to miss the ferry if we did not hurry through ...... a red light. Yes, I said there was a police car right behind us. A very nice officer ( they look so handsome in a uniform) came to the window and asked a few questions. He must have realized that the driver was just old, and not on drugs or anything, so he just said " It would be better to miss the ferry, than cause an accident". So we did. Miss the ferry. By 13 cars. So this gave us another two hours to read, eat, read some more. Once we arrived in Nanaimo, it was another hour to our friends, Charlie and Marilyn (about 3:00 in the afternoon.) We had a great visit,despite some rain showers on Saturday
All too soon it was time to start back. We wanted to make sure and get to the ferry dock early so we left the house at 3:30. We got to the dock by 4:15 ( went through one red light ) the ferry left at 5:45 . We should have left at 3:00. We missed it by 8 cars. We pulled into our garage about 1:00 Sunday Morning.
End of story. ( do you think that missing a ferry is like punishment for breaking the law?)