Made it throught the night.

Just barely. The bed sucketh. Seriously. Plus... the sky opened up and dumped down at half-hour intervals. The loudest rain in the history of downpours. The shower skylight leaks... at least it's the shower and not the bedroom, right? But still. Diesel trucks and RVs are loud and travel through out the night it seems. Just inches from us each time... Luke slept like the dead, I think I may have gotten an hour total.

Lucky thing, I brought my espresso machine. The coffee is good at least. The dogs enjoyed their breakfast too.



The sky is dark, it's brr windy cold. Free all you can eat pancakes coming up if we can find the breakfast hut.

We're Off!

Two hours packing up the RV, dogs on last... and it starts to pour down buckets of rain as we drive away from the house. Lucky. Seriously feeling lucky. We didn't have to load up in the rain. Even though the forecast calls for rain all week, we are starting out dry.

The dogs are thrilled beyond words. To be included. To come with us. So very exciting! Luke is bouncing off the wall, at least his energy is. Physically, he's strapped in and trying to play it cool.







That lucky feeling fades as we hit I5, traffic backed up all through the city... and all the way down to Olympia as it turns out. It took us over 3 hours to get through Tacoma. A record, I'm sure, it should have taken one. Three hours of driving a vehicle the size of my living room down the highway in stop and go. Feeling a little "what were we thinking". Not loving this RV thing on the highway, even though Frank is doing a great job driving it.





Finally, the rain cleared out near Fort Lewis, as did the traffic. Blue skies... feeling a little luck again. Behind schedule though.



We hit Oregon and cross the Columbia River. It's past the time we had planned on arriving at the site, but it's still not raining... soooo... again, that lucky feeling... Luke is starting to fade, he's lost that excited bouncing off the wall attitude and has started asking, quite regularly, the age old question: "Are we there yet?" and "When are we going to get there?". The dogs are still quite happy to be included in this adventure, though Zoe seems to be getting nervous and if she could talk, I think she would be asking the same questions as Luke. She spent the entire trip standing in that spot between the driver and co-pilot seats.







Oregon is beautiful. We see elk, deer, an eagle, Luke says a fox... gorgeous windy roads that go on for a long long time... (No, we are not there yet.) the skies get dark again... not because it's time, but more rain. Astoria... 29 miles... getting close. Rain. Dark. Oh we need gas. Might as well get some ice cream too since the freezer seems to be cold now.

(Astoria looks like a wonderful little town, must make it back there some day to explore properly.)

On the road again... yes, those words are accompanied by music each time...

And then there it is... the KOA sign. Park the RV, get up to find the registration papers, trip over a dog, a kid, kid starts crying, it's way past his bed-time. Past mine too. But oh look, the rain stopped again. Ok good. Luke is not crying, we are all registered. They say no rotties, pit bulls, or dobies. We tell them Zoe is a mutt (she is.) She'd better be good or they will kick us out. She says she will be. And off we head to our spot (C8). Oh, missed Columbia drive, here we go touring the campground at close to midnight, ok, back where we started, try again... there it is. Phew, we've arrived. We may never leave, is how I'm feeling... though... that thought is gone as soon as we lay our heads down on the bed and discover it slopes down. Head lower than feet. Can't sleep this way Darnit. Have to make the bed the other way. Not cool. Not comfortable. Dog kisses. Sigh... it's going to be a long night.

My New Favorite Necklace

I love this thing! It's SO me. It's been in my head now for oh... 2, maybe 3 years - however long I've been making these flower wheels. I have tried several ways of stringing/wiring it together, but it's never worked out. Then Luke came home from Summer Camp knotting friendship bracelets and that looked a bit easier than the fancy ways of macrame/knotting that some people do, and since it was hot and I was feeling lazy, I decided to try it, and I like it! It only took about 4 hours to make, not including the time to make the beads, so still pretty time intensive... but not as much as the last fancy knotted necklace I tried to make and remains unfinished still.

I'll be wearing this one to the Frantz August Art Glass Bash - so if you are going, look for it and you'll find me!

An Angelic Moment

Summer camp ended today and his camp councilor sent me this photo. Love it.



Most of the time he's moving so fast you can't catch him. Like this.

Beach Chair Necklace

Amazing, I made something! It felt sooooo good to melt glass again, it's been way too long. Though, I have to say, twirling a mandrel with guitar string callouses is a new experience. Will have to remember not to practice my chords before hitting the studio.

Senior What?

We got a card in the mail the other day from the vet's office. It said it was time to schedule Zoe's "Senior Wellness Exam". What? I remember when she was all of six pounds, looking up at me with those dark brown eyes, begging me to take her home. Eyes that looked into my heart and soul, and mirrored her own. It seems like yesterday, almost. Certainly not the better part of a dog's lifetime ago. How can it be?

More Summer Fun

The hollyhock is blooming, love that thing.

The guitar lessons are going well. I'm learning from David Taub at Next Level Guitar. Luke is taking lessons from me, and Frank is taking lessons from Luke. At the rate things are going, Frank will probably be playing before me and Luke, but that is only because he keeps hogging my guitar. I need to get him one of his own.

Luke's speech therapy is coming along - he's working on "ch" and "j"/"g" and then he's done, all caught up and done with that. Vision therapy is going well too, improvements every week it seems. Several months more of that though, but it's all good.

We were going to take a road trip to Montana to dig for crystal and dino bones this month... but I got cold feet. Or rather, I thought my feet would be too hot. And dry. And dusty. So I pulled a the "I'll miss the dogs too much" card and the next thing you know all our plans have changed. A (gasp) RV is rented, a KOA campground space is booked, and we are off on an All-American Family Vacation. Dogs included. An adventure, for sure. I'm not sure how it happened... but there it is. We are heading to the Oregon Coast. Luke is super excited. He drew this great picture: Frank is driving, I'm cooking something that steams, he's playing a game at the table, the dogs are riding with us happy as... well dogs in an RV could be.



And right this very minute, we are watching the movie I rented for Frank: "RV". Just to see what we have gotten ourselves into. Haha, it can't be that bad, can it? I'll let you know. Stay tuned.

Rockin' the House

Yesterday I won the "Best Mom Ever" award. Look what I got Luke:



But really, I wanted one for myself... so Frank dragged me out and made me buy my own. He wins the "Best Husband Ever" award. Look!





It's a good thing the old dog is deaf. I have a feeling Frank wishes he was. We are getting headphones today. Then everyone will be happy.

Where did the sun go?

m's redsox game

Seaview

A view from yesterday's walk, found a tiny little park with two benches in my neighborhood.

Fishin'

Brilliante!

Hey! Look! I got an award!



Big thanks to Layla of The Lady Blog for nominating me for this! Be sure to check out her herbs and spices on Etsy too, you can almost smell them, just looking at them!

Here's my list of nominees that I'd like to receive this award as well:

1. Maggie's Bead Towne
2. Barrie's Jewelry World
3. vLaDtHeBaT's Attic
4. Life on the Island
5. Andee's Photo Blog
6. Rita's R'tistic Ramblez
7. Lavender Cottage Originals


Here are the rules for this award:

1. The winner can put the logo on their blog.
2. Link to the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you've nominated.
6. Write an acceptance speech in the style of the Academy Awards, thanking every body's mother, father, sister, brother, aunties and uncles and the kitchen staff at your favorite restaurant!

Feet

Just jump in, the water is great!

Mmmmn... Grill Pizza!

This turned out way better than I thought! Wolfgang Puck's Pizza Dough, grill on one side, flip, add your toppings and let melt and bubble. Yum! Next time fresh basil, goat cheese and caramelized onions.

Summer in the Garden

Another Beach Walk

Low tide. Great blue herons fishing. Ferries coming and going. Roses blooming. Another perfect morning.



And the Good Girl:

This Morning's Walk

One of the nice things about Luke's tennis lessons (besides the fact that he loves them so) is that I have the hour to get a walk in while it's still cool enough out. Today I took Zoe and we headed to the beach cliff street in our town - one side is gorgeous Puget Sound with Ferries and islands, the other is nice houses with pretty gardens. There was a nice fresh breeze and great sunshine - perfect day. Zoe was such a good girl, ignored the other dogs, bikers, runners, walkers, she was perfect too. The train runs along the beach and when I saw one coming, I had her sit pretty and we waited to watch it come through - the conductor blew a hello whistle at us.



Have been thinking... wouldn't it be nice to be a writer? Like there isn't enough on my plate. But still... wouldn't it be fun to write a book? Or a play? Or a tv show? Will continue thinking about that... and what I would even write about.

Beach Days

This summer is turning out to be super busy. So busy: tennis lessons, day camp, soccer camp, guitar lessons, speech class, vision therapy. And that's just Luke's schedule. I'm not getting a whole lot accomplished, have been training the dog to walk nicely (much progress so far), the garden is looking pretty good, the bedroom is almost finished (painting), the downstairs is getting an overhaul (organizational). I managed to make some beads the other day, I'll show them in a day or few. That's all I've got for now!

A (Gasp) Political Post

It's been a long time since I shared my angst over politics and the state of the nation. World. Universe. I've come a long way to feeling peaceful in my own life, which gives me a more peaceful outlook on the bigger world view too. I know it's all going to work out in the end, no matter what. That said, I'm feeling some excitement again, possibilities on the horizon, opportunities for fairness and goodness, peace and understanding - it's *this* close - and it feels good. I like what I'm seeing, I like how money is being raised, principals honored, the way the talk is being walked... the whole deal. Honesty and truth in politics? Unity instead of divisiveness? Is it possible? Maybe! Wouldn't that be nice.

I also know politics are a tricky subject, not everyone's cup of tea. So, feel free to ignore me and go ahead keeping your own views, or not having any at all if that's your thing, it's what makes the world go 'round, everyone doing it their own way, right? But if you have any interest and few spare dollars, check out this list of progressive women that will help give our congress a better representation of "we the people". I would like to see more smart women in our government - to help fight for better schools, heath care, safe foods and products, protect out planet, to insist that all avenues have been exhausted before we send our children off to wars... Plus some of these women are from my home state of New Hampshire - what a long way that little state has come from when I was growing up there, I'm pretty proud of it. There is also a woman from my own state, Darcy Burner, who is pretty great too, smart and compassionate, in it for all the right reasons, I like her a lot.

Go ahead, check out http://www.emilyslist.org/ or MoveOn.org to see how you can get involved or contribute to their campaigns.

There, I've done my little bit for the day - but I've got something else up my sleeve (literally!) that is more fun than just clicking and donating. Stay tuned... and save a few bucks in case it turns out that it IS your cup of tea. More soon!