The best true baby story I have ever written

The Best true Baby Story
Our friend Lisa (brave beautiful and bubbly), mother of 7, took a train trip from Seattle to Bloomington, Illinois, with her family. Yes, all 9 of them, on the train for 2 ½ days. The children range in age from 6 months to nearly 11 years old and in activity level ranging from rocking in arms to maximum energy. That by itself would attract attention. The youngest, however, must have attracted the most, because one of the other passengers on the train crocheted the little fellow a colorful afghan.

Hawaii No sunrise, No Aloha

I cannot begin to talk about the week, without explaining how the atmosphere of this fabulous trip changed so tragically. Very tragically.

A week on the Big Island, Hawaii. Tiffany is celebrating 10 years of service with BDA, and Anita is the event manger. I am the Granny Nanny and Damon is along to “help”. There are 80 in the group, 40 employees, and one guest each.

Accommodations: The Fairmont Hotel – need I say more.

We arrived on Sunday afternoon, and on Tuesday morning, the headlines of the local paper read:
Murder at the Fairmont. It sounded like an Agatha Christie Mystery. But it was real. Susan, one of the BDA employees, celebrating 15 years of service, was brutally murdered by the boyfriend who came with her. Right in the hotel. Right next door to other BDA employees, who heard her cry, but not in time.
All the planned activities of the day were cancelled. The BDA owners gave everyone the option to go home early, to withdraw from any and all of the company gatherings.
One BDA employee asked the owners ( they are Jewish) if they could all hold hands and pray. They said yes. Many commented that it was just what they needed. ( Prayer IS the best thing we can do.)
Grief counselors came that afternoon and were available for the rest of the week.
Details were reported in the Hawaii and Seattle newspapers. Her memorial was this Saturday.

There is much more that could be said , but I will leave it there.
For Susan, there are no Alohas , no more sun rises, no goodbyes – hopefully, we will greet her in heaven.
For me, it is a chapter in my life that will haunt me for chapters to come.




Spending hours with Sebastian, walking along the flower gardens, the warm air, and the music and cuddle time were a pleasure and privilege, and a comfort. There was lots of good food, too, especially key lime pie and Kona coffee, and a breakfast buffet that would not stop!
There are a few photos in my camera. Most of them are of Sebastian. I wish I had taken more of the surroundings – the colors are out of this world!

Ever wondered about that exit to West Seattle?

Ever wonder what to do if you miss the exit to West Seattle from I-5?
(I don’t want to talk about it)

So you have GPS? Does it recognize road under construction?
(Getting out the Kleenex)

Did you have too much coffee this morning?
(Don’t even think about stopping at the McDonald’s on 4th & Lander)

Why am I on 4th and Lander?
( don’t want to talk about it )

Getting low on gas?
( more Kleenex)

Feeling sorry for yourself?
( check out the Mercedes convertible, top down, trunk slightly ajar with bungee cord holding it down, and pouring rain)

Running out of Kleenex?
( on sale at Bartells )

Me and Sabrina are dry and………almost in West Seattle
(don’t want to talk about calories )

Happy May Day

This is the first year that I will not be leaving May baskets at my neighbor's doors - My children are grown and gone, my little neighbor Emily is still sleeping and my grandson is too small. But pretend there is a little cone with flowers , and at the bottom, a candy kiss, at your door - it is from me!

Blessings on May Day

Proverbs 1:23 I will pour out my spirit into you, I will make known my words

( those are words to ponder )

Is it time to say goodbye?

It is still Saturday here. We are invited out to dinner tonight.
Sunday we will go to Jen's church. The peak. The longest elevator in the world. The Regal Hotel.
we are spending the night at the airport hotel due to our early flight and an hour ride from Jen's to the airport.
So, we will see if I have computer time before take off.

thanks for reading - you are welcome to comment ( thanks Jeanne )
this has been quite an experience - I know it will sink in a little more when I get home.

Bilbe Study X 2

Thursday night we go to the English speaking Bible study. These are friends of Jen and we meet in the apartment of Ruth and her husband. Jen forgot to tell us that they have dinner there. We have eaten at McDonald's. There is always room for carrot cake. Maggie is a home economist and her cake is almost as good as Mrs. Adamson's ( my favorite recipe )
They are discussing "What's so Amazing about Grace". I have not read the book, but Ruth has some questions printed out for all of us. many share what their mental picture of God is like - does it relate to their own father?
Ruth has also written out several statements about God and stuck them up around the room. We each pick one to give our own interpretation - feelings.
They have some very open sharing and then it is 9:15 and time to stop. We visit a little longer, then the bus ride home.

Friday night we go to the Chinese speaking Bible study. This is the group where Rob attends, and we were there on Sunday. The study portion is actually a message on Romans 12:13 to the end. Romans 12 is my favorite chapter, so I go over the verses in my head. Rob interprets for Darrell. Jen shares some with me. Enough to think about,in a certain area I am struggling with.
Then we go into small groups and write out our prayer request. ( there is some interesting snack on the table - dried squid?- i try it )
Then we go around the room and speak about our prayer request, then we pray silently and then Tommy closes in prayer.
It is almost 10:00 and a large group head to a nearby restaurant. 14 of us sit around a table. We all get a bowl of rice and then about 10 different dishes are put on the center turn table, as well as tea, and we stuff ourselves. ( We have eaten at McDonald"s at 6:00)

We follow the usual preparation. The waitress brings several tea pots. Tea is poured into the glasses, sloshed around and poured out into large bowls. The chop sticks are dipped into the hot tea. Now everyone has a "clean" bowl and utensils. More pots of tea are brought and we drink our hot tea out of glasses.
Along with the rice we have, BBQ pork, chicken, squid, tofu, goose,beef, two vegetables, and an egg dish with oysters.
No dessert. No room for dessert.
We have been invited to join these friends, so we are their guests.
They are very generous.
They all agree that they will come to America and we can treat them.
Ringo drives us home - it is about 1:00. There is so much activity on the street you would think it was 5:00.

More Reflections

The walk to the train is through a park.
There are lots of different trees - most have a label and I have taken photos - I hope to add them when I get back home.
The roots seem to be above the ground. Jen says it is because the rain has washed away so much of the earth.
workers are sweeping, watering, and picking up trash, but there is very little trash. People do not litter. ( and no food or drink is allowed past the ticket area at the train station.)
There are toys for children.
There is an exercise station for the elderly-got a good picture of Rob and Darrell pulling a rope, up and down, up and down.
We have passed day and night and there is almost always someone "exercising".

Early morning the women are doing something that looks like yoga.

On the train there is almost always one lady putting on her makeup, or curling her eye lashes ( I wanted to get a photo but refrained ). And if there are five people seated, at least 4 of them have a game in hand or ear phones.

Entering Tower 6 ( Jen's ) the guard opens the door. When you are a natural blond they recognize you pretty quickly, so when I came back on my own, the guard let me in right away. In the lobby, there is only one button for the elevator - it is going up. Once you get to the 21st floor, and are ready to leave, there is only one button - you can only go down. Rob says, why would you want to go up?
Inside the elevator, you can press a button for a lower floor, but you really just want to go down, and shop, so you push one and don't ask any more questions.

There is a street vendor selling roasted chestnuts. I buy a bag and start to take a photo, but the elderly lady puts her hand up and shoves some money at me. I am not sure what that means, but Jen says they do not like their pictures taken. They think it takes away their spirit. So I put my camera away and we cross the street. Then Jen offers to take the picture. Just then the lady puts up her hand. The photo looks like she is waving at us.