Friday, July 31, 2015

Return to Routine

Mom arrived safely back in Oklahoma today around 4:15pm central time. She left our dry, hot weather and was met with lovely rain in Oklahoma City. I should mention how crazy it is that the grass in OKC is currently greener than ours in Seattle.

It's nice to have the house back to being guest free but it's also weird not having mom here. I'm glad she's in good health and can travel to stay with us twice a year. I know she'll never move here. She's too used to Oklahoma.

Now if we can just manage to be in a slightly larger house by the time she visits for a month next year.

Tamara

Thursday, July 30, 2015

TGIF

I need this week to end. Other than our concert with Kasey Chambers on Saturday evening, I am hoping for some serious downtime with Tamara. A nice slow weekend of nothing will be great.

Have a splendid weekend and enjoy your update. By the way Ze is safely back home and I am sure we can expect some good rambles from her next week. Until than, Peace to you all.

Elisa

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Homeward Bound

By the time this is posted I'll be on my way home. Almost certainly still somewhere over North America because about a third of my flight time is there. Plus I have to change planes in Chicago (never been there before) which adds an hour to the time.

All being well, I arrive at Heathrow late morning (UK time) Thursday. Then there's a wait for the coach. Then the journey home. I should finally get home sometime around 19.00 hours.

I'll be spending Friday recovering & trying to re-set my body clock.

This should post automatically but either E or Tamara will need to post it to the Yahoo group (thanks, mates). There's nowhere near as much as I thought I'd have for you - AO3 went down while I was checking it. I will catch up when I get home & I'll either set it so E or T can post it or I'll post it next week.

See you next week - from home. Goodnight and may your God/s go with you.

Ze

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Back in Dallas

GCLS is over for another year. Drove back from NOLA to friends in Dallas on Sunday.

Spent yesterday doing the tourist thing.

Saw The Grassy Knoll. And The Book Depository.

And a fantastic series of sculptures representing a cattle drive.

Went up a tower with a great view over the city.

Had problems getting food - if your salad has a list of ingredients which does not include cheese why the hell would the salad you give me be covered in bloody cheese!! That went straight back. (Not me that returned it - I'm English - I would just have left it uneaten and not complained - we're like that.) The second attempt was delicious. Had these little hot pepper things on it. Very nice.

Ze

Monday, July 27, 2015

When Your Kid is an Introvert

We're in the final week of my mother's visit. I do love my mother but I'm not ashamed to say I'm looking forward to Friday. I'll drop mom off at the airport bright and early, then take Cal to his dad's. Home sweet home with just me, Max and Beanie (and E when she gets in from work)....heaven.

Tamara

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Easy Sunday

Nice breakfast and than a splendid day at the Ballard Farmers Market and home for pulled pork sandwiches with lots of other tasty items. Back to work for me in the morning. Gonna be a long week.

Enjoy your updates and have a great week.

Peace, Health and Happiness.

Elisa

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Saturday

Saw Ant-Man today with the family. It was a lot of fun and we all recommend it.

Light night for updates. Good time to catch up on Ze's days.

Tamara

Friday, July 24, 2015

The Weekend Arrives

We had one more day on the go. We enjoyed the Hibulb Cultural Center and some barbeque in Marysville. All around nice day even with the small amount of rain we had. Just enough to make the grass grow I am sure.

Tomorrow is heading to be even more relaxing as we will finally get to sleep in and than relax with an afternoon movie. An all around easy day for sure.

Here is hoping you all are having a great day and weekend is splendid.

Peace, Health and Happiness.

Elisa

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Road Tripping

We've been busy here the last few days. Yesterday we traveled to Marymount, WA and toured The Lemay Family Collection Foundation. If you're at all interested in vintage automobiles, this is the place to go. I can honestly say I didn't expect it to be quite so interesting.

Today we spent some time at Ikea. We decided the last time we visited Ikea was also when my mom was here but it was about 5 years ago. After today's visit I believe we can wait 5 more years for another.

Tomorrow we're heading to Marysville to visit the Hibulb Cultural Center. This should be a lot of fun. I'm pretty well versed in the cultures of Oklahoma tribes but Northwest Native American tribes are still very new to me.

Tamara

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

And So to NOLA

Arrived in Dallas at 3am Tuesday UK time... I was knackered after 25 hours being awake (with only 3 hours sleep in the previous 46) but the only thing I could think was Bloody Hell it's f*king hot here. It was 9pm Monday and it was still 40c. Forty bleeding degrees Celsius...

Today (bright & early local time but mid morning for my body-clock) road trip!! Off to New Orleans...I wouldn't even begin to think about driving that kind of distance in a single day back home (not that I can drive that distance in the UK - not without driving off the end of the country & into the sea... You know what they say... in the UK a hundred miles is a very long way, in the USA a hundred years old is a very long time... (my city is 1935 years old and is far from the oldest in Britain, let alone Europe).

I think it's every bit as hot in NOLA as Dallas... but far more humid... I'm about to do a Wicked Witch impression... "I'm melting, I'm melting".

See you next week - but only for Tuesday. On Wednesday I'm on my mammoth journey home & I'll be in a 'plane somewhere.

Goodnight and may your God/s go with you.

Ze

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

I'm in a Lone Star State of Mind

By the time this is posted I will be in Texas, staying with friends with whom I'm travelling to GCLS.

I'm setting this up before I go because I don't know if I'll have access to do so on Tuesday.

I'm currently at the airport.My cousin graciously drove me to the bus station to catch my coach for Heathrow Airport, at 4am. I say "graciously" but it was more like, "I'm up, I'm driving, but don't say a F***ing word". She is not a morning person. *g*. My ferrets were a bit surprised to have playtime & breakfast, in the dark, at 3am, but more than happy. They like early mornings - unlike my cousin. At least she gets to go back to bed. I don't. Not for another 16 hours or so...

Ze

Monday, July 20, 2015

A Quick Monday Goes By

Short week as a few more days off with the family are on the horizon. Busy days at work though and sadly my motivation is not very high. I need to get busy.

Sorry only few updates but Ze's day is tomorrow and we may be helping out as she is going to be heading back over the pond soon. I am sure the ferrets are missing her and she is missing them.

Enjoy your updates.

Peace, Health and Happiness.

Elisa

Sunday, July 19, 2015

Warm

Our heatwave is back but only for a few days. Next week's forecast calls for a return to the 70s.

We've managed to keep the house nice and cool. The portable air conditioner is a lifesaver.

The only downside to all of these fans and air conditioning is it sometimes kicks my allergies into high gear. I had a few sneezy days in Oklahoma and have been fighting attacks every few days since we got back. Now I seem to have a case of sinusitis.

I really don't want this to turn into a full blown sinus infection...that would suck. I may even resort to the nasal spray. Hope I don't have as wild a reaction to it as E did. You know you may have snorted too much Afrin when your sense of smell disappears for the day....

Tamara

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Little Warm Today

I live in Seattle because I don't want to live anywhere else. The weather is comfortable. Until you get a freakish summer with lots of heat. This is that summer. It's in the 90s today and really that is just plain wrong for this city. I know many cities all over the world are used to it, however Seattle (or Shoreline in our case) is not one of them. I like the gray cool rain even in summer. Sure it is nice to have some splendid sunny days, but really a few into the 80's is plenty. While we were in OKC there were 7 days in the high 80's low 90's, that is crazy.

Looking forward to the averages again.

Enjoy your updates.

Peace, Health and Happiness.

Elisa

Friday, July 17, 2015

Lazy

Lazy day for us today. Mom and I did a few chores and played on our computers. We also took a trip over to Mike's to go through Cal's clothes. He's growing like a weed and it's time to pull the too small clothes out of the rotation.

Tonight I've got a movie for us to watch, then I think I'll hit the hay early. It'll be nice not to have to get up by 7am to get Cal moving for his conditioning camp at the high school.

Tamara

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Summer Break

Almost done with the first week of mom's visit. We've managed visits to two malls, some grocery shopping, lunches out, and helped Cal choose new glasses. Oh, and we saw a movie.

Mostly the week has consisted of me doing chores and mom reading or playing games on the computer. Then we take a few hours each day and do something out of the house.

Next week we'll travel a little farther afield and go on a few day trips.

Tamara

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Forty Days of Summer??

First - apologies to the reader using the email name leftofrit - I'm not ignoring you, I have tried to reply several times to some of the emails you've sent, but I keep getting a failure notice which says "Return Code 451] Sorry, I wasn’t able to establish an SMTP connection. I’m not going to try again; this message has been in the queue too long."

Not that I can work out how an automated response can a) say "Sorry" or b) refer to itself in the first person... unless it's Skynet and a Terminator is on its way... we're all doomed!!!!!

..............................

Today is St Swithin's Day. (Also spelt Swithun) Fortunately it didn't rain here. Hope you didn't have rain where you are...
    St Swithun's day if thou dost rain
    For forty days it will remain
    St Swithun's day if thou be fair
    For forty days 'twill rain nae mare

..............................

Anybody else following the reports coming back from the New Horizons spacecraft??

The most awe-inspiring part of this whole expedition to me is the precision. They sent a craft into space, knowing it would take nearly ten years to get there. That craft had to fly past Pluto and take photos. So they had to programme it (with 2006 technology) to position itself just right, and take photographs - on a timer - at exactly the right moment.

That's pretty much the equivalent of me standing at my back door and throwing a single grain of rice to the bottom of the garden, and having it land perfectly on a pea.

Amazing stuff.

...............................

See you next week (I hope - I'll be at GCLS). Goodnight and May your God/s go with you.

Ze

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Home

Today was Bastille Day - hope our French readers had a good one.

I'm back home - but not for long.

Next week I'm off to The GCLS Con.

My poor ferrets will be forgetting who I am at this rate. Gone a week, back a week, the off again.

My cousin looks after them well, feeds them, pops them in their playpen. But she's not really keen on them, says they move too fast. She'll take good care of them but they won't get any cuddles. And she won't play with them. She'll just watch them play together. They'll be ok,

But I bet they'll be glad to see me when I get back... I'll have to buy them something special to make up for it. Maybe a ferret Kong.

Ze

Monday, July 13, 2015

Monday Fun

Back to work I went today. Lots of emails and a few projects have been added to my to do list but other than that things went well even with my two week vacation. More meetings tomorrow and Wednesday which I am sure will lead to more projects for me.

Here is hoping the week can go by quickly and smoothly.

Enjoy the updates.

Peace, Health and Happiness.

Elisa

Sunday, July 12, 2015

Back to the Routine

We've been back home for a few days now and my crankiness has subsided. I managed to get decent sleep last night even with Max waking me up to go out around 4 am.

Something keen must have been in the front yard when he went out because he shot off and disappeared. It took about 15 minutes for him to come back and that was with me whistling and E walking out to the street looking for him. Times like this are when it's good to be next to a freeway...no neighbors to annoy.

Both of us managed to get back to sleep and didn't get up again until around 8:30. I don't know about E but I sure needed that.

Tomorrow E is back to work and I'm home with mom and Cal. Little e goes to her other house for a week.

Not sure what we'll do to entertain mom this week. I've got an eye appointment and so does Cal. We'll probably go shopping for shoes one day. I want to get over to Cal's Dad's apartment and go through Cal's clothes to weed out the too small shirts, underwear and pants. Our week will likely consist of chores, shopping and maybe a movie.

Tamara

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Laundry Day

That first day back from vacation is all about the chores. Laundry has been going most of the day. Soon I will head out to put gas in the car, pick up a few things at the grocery store, and get a movie from Redbox. An easy day for sure.

Enjoy your updates.

Peace, Health and Happiness.

Elisa


Friday, July 10, 2015

Home

We're finally home and I'm tired and cranky. It's time for bed. Here's to sleeping in tomorrow.

Tamara


Thursday, July 09, 2015

Our OKC adventure is cComing to an end.

We fly tomorrow night and back to a city hopefully coming out of a heat wave. I got lucky as Oklahoma was cool (for them) the entire time I was here and Seattle had a large heatwave that we missed.

Starting Saturday heat is to return to OKC and the cooler weather returns to Seattle. My good timing continues. It has been a great trip but I am ready for home tomorrow.

Hope you all had a great week and tomorrow we head into the weekend. Enjoy.

Peace, Health and Happiness.

Elisa

Wednesday, July 08, 2015

Done My Best

Hours suck. Weather sucks. Money's great.

There you go folks - done what I can - I'm back home next week so anything I've missed this week I'll catch up on then.

Until next week, goodnight and may your God/s go with you.

Ze

Tuesday, July 07, 2015

Away from Home

Hi folks - not as much as usual for you tonight. I hope I can update tomorrow as well.

I actually set tonight's stuff up at the weekend because I wasn't sure if I'd be able to check-in today.

I'm working away from home at the moment (sub-contracting for the same company but in a different place. Staying in a caravan at night & working 12 to 16 hour days (the money's grand) and I wasn't sure I'd find wi-fi.

I have found one - it's unsecured and not particularly strong, and I'm having to sit in the garden as I don't have access to the club-house (as a mere worker), but it's a permitted connection.

With luck it won't rain tomorrow - it's threatening to right now so I'm signing out in a moment - and I'll update. For now though - enjoy the few I have for you

Ze

Monday, July 06, 2015

Okie 4th of July

Vacation continues and I must say E has been really lucky so far. The temps here haven't broken 100 (37.8 C).

Saturday's Fourth of July mayhem was unseasonably cool thanks to a short rainshower. The wind picked up just before the rain hit. Everyone had to scramble to keep the foodstuffs on the tables. After our rain and wind left, however, we experienced some superb 4th of July weather.

This year's 4th seemed to be even larger than last year. The kids blew up a ton of fireworks, we visited with friends and made it home around midnight. All in all, it was a great first Okie 4th of July for E.

Tamara

Sunday, July 05, 2015

Sunday Fun

To day was a home day which meant lots of small chores and driving back and forth between Tamara's mom's house and her brothers where we're staying. Another good day and yet we all seem a bit tired after last night's adventure. We'll keep going as we can sleep at home.

Hope you all are doing well. Now I have to go set up some photo albums of fun and adventures in OKC.

Peace, Health and Happiness.

Elisa


Saturday, July 04, 2015

Off to Mustang

Quickie update before we head off to 4th of July mayhem. Send good thoughts to E. She's actually going to hang with us in the heat. Not sure how that's going to work but we'll give it a shot.

Tamara

Friday, July 03, 2015

Melting

Oklahoma is hot. I'm doing much better than I thought I would though, so that is great. I'm also enjoying vacation with the family.

Peace, Health and Happiness.

Elisa

Thursday, July 02, 2015

Oklahoma!

We're in Oklahoma and it's hot. So far E is doing okay. Thank goodness for air conditioning.

So far we've been to Lawton, OK to visit my cousin. E saw some prairie dogs and was ecstatic.

Tomorrow we're getting Cal's yearly pictures done. The evening will involve our annual viewing of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic's Red, White and Boom concert with Nana Gayle.

As E has discovered our time in Oklahoma City involves lots and lots of driving.

Tamara

Wednesday, July 01, 2015

Half-time and 1-1

Congrats to the USA for reaching the final. Commiserations to Germany.

Hope we can make it too. (Watching our game as I type this).

Great tournament so far. But oh Lord, the refereeing has been dreadful.

Today is Canada Day - Happy Canada Day to our Canadian readers.

Saturday is a pretty important day too, to another country on that side of the pond...so...Happy Rebels' Day to our US readers. *g*

See you next week. Goodnight and may your God/s go with you.

Ze